Calas - Sweet Rice Fritters

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I'm stepping back in time today to explore 19th century New Orleans. My destination is the French Quarter. I'm searching for the donut-like fritters associated with this time and place. The sights and sounds and smells of the old city can overwhelm the uninitiated, but through the din, the imaginative who listen, really listen, will hear Creole slaves hawking calas, the sweet rice fritters whose sale will help buy their freedom. The women shout, "Belles calas, toutes chaudes!" or "Calas, nice and hot!" The cala came to New Orleans via West Africa, but unlike it's cousin, the beignet, its fame traveled no farther than this city and it was rarely found elsewhere in the South. Calas can be leavened with wild yeasts, commercial yeast or baking powder. I chose to use baking powder because I had no idea what the completed fritters would taste like and I didn't want to spend hours waiting to find out. So, an experiment borne of curiosity began. Francis Lam had written about Calas for the pages of Salon and I decided to use his recipe. It was fast, simple and straight forward. I've learned that it also produces marvelous sweet rice fritters. I thought those of you with left over rice and adventurous spirits might like to have a go at these. They are delightfully different and delicious. Here's the recipe for a wonderful curiosity that comes with a history all its own.

Calas - Sweet Rice Fritters...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, adapted from original recipe by Francis Lam for the Salon Media Group

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, very cold rice
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash nutmeg
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Vegetable oil
Confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1) Fill a high-sided pan with oil to a depth of 2-inches. Warm to 360 degrees F.
2) Place very cold rice in a large mixing bowl. Use fingers to break-up lumps and form separate grains. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg to rice; mix well to coat each grain with dry mixture.
3) Add vanilla to beaten eggs and pour over rice. Mix until there are no dry spots in batter.
4) Form batter into ovals or quenelles, using 2 tableside serving spoons. Working in batches, push batter into oil and cook, turning just once, until puffed and golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Dust generously with confectioners' sugar. Serve hot. Yield: 12 fritters.

You might also enjoy these recipes:

Yeasted Appple Fritters - One Perfect Bite
Open Mouths Laughing - One Perfect Bite
French Quarter Beignets - One Perfect Bite

Yeasted Apple Fritters

As newlyweds, our first home was an L-shaped apartment in the basement of six flat on the south side of Chicago. Papa and Mama S. owned the building. They were German Jews who immigrated to this country in 1939. They came into our lives during a period of wrenching dislocation in the South Shore and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Chicago. Whole blocks of apartments emptied as white-flight from the city accelerated. The building on Paxton Avenue was Papa's Alamo. Having been forced from one home, he refused to leave this one on any terms other than his own. The price he paid was loneliness. Most of his friends had gone. To break the monotony, he'd shuffle down the stairs to meet me when I returned from school in the afternoon. We'd gossip over coffee and snack on something sweet, usually donuts or fritters as I couldn't bankroll much more than that. I wish I could make these fritters for him; he'd love them warm, coated with cinnamon sugar and dunked into a cup of his strong, very sweet - "four sugar, please" - coffee; I'd love to see him smile again.

Apple Fritters

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 large egg, beaten
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup finely diced apples
Oil for deep frying
Topping: cinnamon sugar, confectioners' sugar

Directions:
1) Pour warm water into a medium bowl. Stir in yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften.
2) Stir in egg, sugar, oil, vanilla and salt. Stir in flour. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
3) Punch dough down and mix in apples.
4) Heat oil to 375 degrees F. Use a soup or table-serving spoon to drop batter, four spoonfuls per batch, into oil. Fry until golden brown. Drain on paper toweling. Roll in cinnamon sugar, then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve warm. Yield: 12 fritters.