Fritter

A fritter is any kind of food coated in batter and deep fried. Although very similar to a donut it differs in the fact that it requires some base ingredient beyond the dough it is cooked with.

In British fish and chip shops, the fish and chips can be accompanied by fritters, which means a food item (such as a slice of potato, a pineapple ring, an apple ring (or chunks) or some mushy peas) fried in batter. Hence: potato fritter, pineapple fritter, apple fritter, pea fritter, etc.

In most Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, it is common for a variety of fritters, called "cucur" (such as yam, sweet potato and banana) to be fried by the roadside in a large wok and sold as snacks. Fritters are extremely popular roadside snacks all over South Asia and are commonly referred to as Pakora (Pakoda) or Bhajia in local parlance.

Although containing soft centres within fritters can be tricky, it is a common misconception that in this case they contain bread. Fritters are exclusively dough- or batter-based foodstuffs.