Picarones: Pumpkin Fritters

Recently, someone I know asked:

What else can I do with pumpkin except make pumpkin pie?

I immediately thought of picarones, pumpkin fritters, that street vendors make in the afternoons in Peru. A perfect picarón is light and airy, never greasy, and well drenched in rich syrup.

I'm not a chef, but I do know how to search the internet. And sure enough, there is a recipe in English for picarones. If anyone has success making these at home, let me know.

Click here to see a recipe for picarones.

Just in case the link doesn't work, here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup pumpkin cooked and strained
• 1/4 cup water in which the pumpkin was cooked
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 cups flour
• 1 cup milk
• Frying Oil

PREPARATION:

In a beater mix the pumpkin puree gradually adding the milk. Then add the flour and cornstarch beating constantly. Add the yeast, which has previously been dissolved in the hot pumpkin water with the sugar.

Mix to a smooth paste and place in a bowl. Heat the oven to 300 F. and place the bowl inside the oven for a minute. Turn the oven off and leave the dough inside the oven for 45 minutes giving time to raise. In a large skillet or deep frying pan add plenty of oil to heat.

Dip your fingers into the mixture, grab some, and drop it into the hot oil trying to shape them as a doughnut. Fry until golden and well puffed up. Serve with a syrup made of sugar loaf, orange peels and cinnamon sticks.



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TAGS: Peru, Peruvian, food, cooking, cuisine, cocina, comida, gastronomía, peruana