Deep fried pickles are like a cult classic in culinary terms. Imagine a movie that someone suggests to you, and you’re like “It looks weird, I don’t know…” but then you watch it and it’s fantastic. That is what happens with deep fried pickles every time.

Most people think pickles should be eaten raw because they’re basically cucumber. But once it soaks up all the liquid it takes on a new taste and texture (especially the little ones, which I used for this recipe) and it works really well. I decided to throw in some Cajun spice along with a few other spices to give the batter a kick, and did them up in a frying pan on the stove. Quick, easy and yummy.

I’m pretty certain I’ve ranted about how expensive bar food is, but just to put this recipe in perspective, here goes. Flour, eggs, pickles, spices; these are all pretty cheap ingredients that you may have around the house anyways. I went to a bar and ordered deep fried pickles for the first time. They brought me 5 wedges with a dish of some dip for $8. Are you crazy? Never getting them while I’m out again.

Also, because of all the flooding that’s been happening right now I was out of power for 3 days. I had to toss out a ton of stuff from my fridge, and I was just really excited to have a functioning stove again. Pickles, flour, eggs…the basics remained (well, I don’t know if pickles are basics, but they were there). While I was out of power I tried to get creative with some of the stuff in my freezer that would otherwise be going to waste—for example I made perogies on the barbecue. Sounds pretty good, right? Wrong. I’d stick to the boiling and/or pan-frying if I were you.

Ingredients

Makes roughly 30-40 fried pickle slices

• Vegetable oil for frying
• 15-20 dill or garlic mini-pickles, cut into wedges
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. Cajun spice
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 1/2 cups corn starch
• 3 tbsp. old-style mustard
• 1 tbsp. mayonnaise
• 2-3 sprigs fresh oregano

Method

In a medium-sized bowl, lightly mix together flour, Cajun spice, paprika, garlic powder, cayenne, salt and black pepper. In a separate large bowl, beat together egg and water. Whisk in the flour mixture.

Set corn starch aside in a wide bowl (so it is easier for dipping pickle wedges). Heat about 1-inch of vegetable oil in a skillet on high heat. Dip each pickle wedge first in corn starch, then in the batter. Fry pickles for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Repeat with any remaining slices. Place on a paper towel to drain excess oil and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

For the dip, mix together mustard, mayonnaise and oregano. Garnish with an extra sprig is desired and serve while hot with some cool cans of cider!