Corn Cheese Balls

Corn cheese balls are perfect kid-pleasers. Everything about these golden cheesy balls spells fun – they’re crispy and crunchy with juicy sweet corn and gooey cheese. These corn cheese balls are rolled in bread crumbs and sesame seeds which impart a wonderful crunch and nuttiness. These would make great finger food for a kids party or any party for that matter. You can make these cheese balls the day before and refrigerate. You can deep fry them just before the party and warm in an oven before serving. Adults would enjoy these just as much as kids.

I would order these any day. In fact, when out with friends we almost always order these cheese balls at Cream Centre. We’re a group of diet-agnostic, calorie-ignorant weight-watchers. We watch how our weight climbs every month. We have sudden realizations when we go shopping for clothes, and then we sincerely make exercise plans while we eat our samosas and masala vadais at tea break but our bosses don’t cooperate. We’re invariably stuck in office till late in the evening v-looking up, drafting verbose e-mails and doodling through long-drawn conference calls. And so our resolve fades and we forget until we see our photos and are shocked to see ourselves barely fitting within the photo frame. And so it continues.

None of this should deter you from making or eating these corn cheese balls. They’re easy to make and taste just like the cheese balls in restaurants. There are lots of ways to lose weight. Depriving yourself of good food is not one of them. That’s what I tell myself. I am sending these corn cheese balls to Srivalli’s Blogging Marathon – Kid’s Party Finger food, to Srivalli's Summer special mela and to Kalyani's "Kids Delight" event.

Prep time: 20 mins + 1 hour refrigeration
Cooking time: 10 mins
Makes: 25-30 cheese balls

Ingredients

Corn Kernels – 300 gm (about 2 whole boiled Corn cobs)
Butter – 4 tbsp
All purpose flour/Maida – 4 tbsp
Milk – 2 cups
Black Pepper powder – 1 tsp (adjust)
Salt to taste
Parsley or Coriander – 1 tbsp finely chopped
Garlic Powder – ½ tsp (optional)
Grated Cheese – 6-8 tbsp
Bread crumbs – 5 tbsp + 1 cup
White sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
Oil – for deep-frying

Method

1.      If you have packaged corn kernels, steam them for 5 minutes or as per packet instructions. If you are using whole corn cobs, pressure cook the corn cobs with water and a dash of salt for 15-20 minutes or till tender. Drain water and use a knife to scrape the corn kernels. Keep aside.

2.      Combine together the remaining cup of bread crumbs and sesame seeds in a plate for rolling the cheese balls. Set aside.

3.      In a pan, heat butter until it melts. Then add the flour and stir till the flour is completely mixed in. Cook on low for about 1-2 minutes stirring in between. Add milk and stir vigorously to break up lumps. The mixture will quickly thicken and form a dough. Keep stirring till it is a nice thick dough about 1-2 minutes.

4.      Add corn kernels, black pepper powder, salt garlic powder and parsley and mix well. Add the grate cheese and mix well. Remove from fire and let cool.

5.      Once cool enough to handle, add 5 tablespoons of bread crumbs to the corn-cheese mixture and mix well to form a soft but firm mixture.

6.      Make small lemon sized balls from the corn-cheese mixture and roll them in bread crumbs-sesame seeds mixture. Shake off excess and place in an air-tight container. Repeat with the remaining mixture. You’ll make roughly 30 cheese balls. Refrigerate these cheese balls for a minimum of 1 hour for the balls to firm up.

7.      In a kadai/skillet, heat oil for deep frying. When hot, drop these cheese balls gently into the oil and deep fry till golden brown. Deep-fry in batches. Remove on to absorbent paper. Serve hot.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#29