Ebi Tempura
EH-bee tem-POO-rah — 'Ebi' means shrimp or prawn in Japanese; 'tempura' likely derives from the Portuguese 'tempero' or 'temporas,' referring to fasting days when fried food was eaten.
₹280
The lightest fried food in the world — the batter is barely there, and that's the entire skill.
Tempura's origins are usually traced to Portuguese missionaries and traders who introduced battered, fried food to Nagasaki in the 16th century. The Japanese refined the technique over centuries into something far lighter and crisper than its European ancestor — ironically, the borrowed dish became more distinctly 'Japanese' than most native techniques.
What makes it taste like that
The batter is mixed cold and barely combined, with lumps left in on purpose — overmixing builds gluten, which is exactly what makes tempura heavy. Ice-cold batter meeting hot oil creates that lace-like, almost transparent crust, and the prawn inside should stay nearly raw-sweet, not overcooked.
Chef's note
Eat it within sixty seconds of frying, or the whole point of tempura is already gone.