“Calas” or Creole Rice Fritters

by From the kitchen of Southern Food Guide, Diana Rattray

Calas, another New Orleans tradition, is a breakfast fritter mixed with cooked rice, flour, sugar, and spices, and then deep-fried. According to “The Dictionary of American Food & Drink,” the word “calas” was first printed in 1880, and comes from one or more African languages, such as the Nupe word kárá, or “fried cake.” African-American street vendors sold the fresh hot calas in the city’s French Quarter, with the familiar cry, “Calas, belles, calas tout chauds!”

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked rice, cooled
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ to 1 cup flour, just to make a good batter
Oil for deep frying
Confectioners’ sugar

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine cooked rice, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and baking powder. Add just enough flour to hold batter together. It should stay together when dropped from a spoon. Heat oil in the deep fryer to 365 degrees. Drop batter by heaping teaspoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry in small batches until golden brown and crisp, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towels and generously sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar.