These are good, but I think some improvements could be made with the batter. There are tons of similar recipes online, and this is a combination of a few of them.
I think the batter needs work because it really soaks up a lot of oil—and this is when they’re cooked at the proper temperature. Cook them at too low a temperature and you’ll end up with the equivalent of onion-oil sponges.
The version I made were also a little flavorless, so for the version written here, I tripled the spice amounts.
Stay tuned for these with a different batter sometime.
What you’ll need:
- 1 large sweet or yellow onion—I actually think medium onions would be better. Really big onions make too big of a ring. Maybe 2 mediums would be better.
- 2 cups complete pancake mix (the “just add water” type)
- 1 cup beer
- 1T chili powder
- 1T smoked paprika
- 1T smoked cumin
- Enough neutral oil for frying
- Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
Ready a pan or plate by lining it with paper towels and putting a cooling rack on top.
Add a couple of inches of oil to the vessel in which you’re going to fry the oil and slowly begin to heat it to 375 degrees F. Before you actually begin cooking the rings, measure the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. While the oil is heating, you want to prep the rings.
Peel, then cut the onion into thick slices, separating the rings.
Mix the pancake mix and spices in a large bowl, then thoroughly stir in the beer.
When the oil reaches 375 degrees, working with three rings at a time, dip them into the batter to completely coat them, then carefully add them to the oil. Fry them until golden brown and puffed, turning once or twice—about 3 or 4 minutes. Remove the rings from the oil with a spider-strainer or slotted spoon and let them cool a bit on a wire rack. Repeat until you’re out of onion rings or batter.
Salt and pepper the rings before serving hot.
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