You will find street food in almost every corner. So many varieties of fritters. In fact, you will find complete meals sold on the side of the street. Well, except for vegetables. Those are rather scarce, anywhere.
Alcalpurria is one of our favorite fritters. It is kind of like a deep fried tamale. The masa is a dough made of plantains and root vegetables. The filling is typically savory beef, chicken or crab.
If you are outside the touristy areas, the vendors may not know English. I was practicing my spanish on one occasion and I mistakenly asked if the alcalpurria was filled with caballo (horse) instead of cangrejo (crab)! The man was rather offended at my suggestion!
Our quiet town of Cannovanas is next to three busier areas. To the west, Carolina for shopping and a bit further, San Juan for restaurants and night life. To the east, more touristy areas of Rio Grande and Fajardo with their restaurants. Other than quick lunch spots, we did not know any dinner destinations in our town. Until our last trip when our neighbor introduced us to Zimple which is 11 minutes from the house. Zimple is a hip restaurant that serves beautiful and tasty Puerto Rican food. The first time we went I had mofongo stuffed with lobster and Santosh had red snapper stuffed with lobster. That was so much lobster, done to perfection. We took Reena there and then we went back again ourselves and enjoyed some lamb. The staff is great and the chefs so accommodating. A local gem!
Stuffed Tostones 
Lamb Chops 
Red Snapper with Lobster 
Shrimp Mfongo 
Lobster Mfongo 
Red Snapper with Lobster
I have a tall Morringa/drumstick tree and several dwarf ones. The leaves make a delicious albeit slightly bitter side-dish. The tender leaves are better. It does take a while to remove the tiny leaves off their stem. I am going to try and use a herb stem remover next time – stay tuned.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1/4 cup diced onions
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 4 cups moringa leaves, separated from stems and roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup grated coconut
- Salt
- Heat the oil in a frying pan
- Add the mustard seeds. Give them a moment to pop.
- Add the red chilies. Give them a moment to roast.
- Add the onion and curry leaves. Saute till the onions become soft and translucent.
- Add the turmeric. Give it a moment to cook.
- Add the leaves. Give it a mix. Cover and cook till the leaves are tender.
- Add the coconut and salt to taste. Cook for a couple more minutes.
