Month: October 2016

Another vegetable which has recently been introduced to  indian cuisine is zucchini, this vegetable which resembles a cucumber in appearance , but has a firmer texture and has seeds  which are very tiny and almost invisible,  an emerald green  colour and  comes from the family of squash, the only difference is that its harvested quite early when it reaches the length of about 25 cms, this is to prevent it from losing its taste. This vegetable which is a storehouse of nutrients, adapts itself very well to any cuisine  sweet or savoury, be it a zucchini fritter or just  simply tossed with a few herbs and roasted.. it’s a great side dish and  is very healthy.

Today i would like to share with you a snack made with shredded zucchini which I have adapted to an Indian taste, this snack can be premade and then reheated and served, the use of oil is very minimum in this snack, and its a good option for those of you trying to avoid snacks which are deep-fried. We as mothers know that children are fussy when it comes to eating vegetables, I learnt how to play  hide and seek with vegetables in many forms when my children were growing up,sometimes in parathas, sometimes in cakes, and idlies, there were beetroot parathas, carrot sindhi kokis, or spinach idlies..etc . But nowadays young mothers are more health conscious and train their children from an early age to eat healthy. Zucchini is definitely a vegetable which should occupy a permanent space in your vegetable drawer..

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup  + 1/2 cup  finely grated zucchini

• 1/2 cup chick pea flour..(besan)

• 1/2 cup rice flour

• 2 tbsps yogurt

• paste of ginger and green chillies.( to your spice level)

• 2 tbsps of lime juice

• salt to taste and a pinch of turmeric

• 1 small potato boiled, peeled and grated

• 1 small onion finely chopped

• 1 small tomato finely chopped

• 2 tbsps of finely chopped spring onions

• 2 tbsps finely chopped corriander leaves

• 3 tbsps grated paneer..(cottage cheese)

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tsp red chilli powder

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1/2 tsp amchoor powder

• salt to taste

• METHOD..

  1. mix together the besan, 1/2 cup grated zucchini , rice flour salt, ginger green chilli paste, yogurt, lime juice and about 1/2 cup water to get a smooth batter which is not too thick . Keep aside for 15 minutes.

• 2. heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and chopped onions, saute till onions become soft, add the chopped tomatoes and garam masala, turmeric, amchoor, red chillie powder,  salt, mix well..and add the grated potatoes and paneer.

• 3. Separately saute 1/2 cup of grated zucchini till dry , and add to the potato mixture, this is the filling for the zucchini turnovers. At this point you have 2 options.. use the potato filling only or add the sauted zucchini..

• 4.Heat a non stick pan, brush a little oil on the surface and drop a spoonful of the batter on it, it should spread a little. After a minute turn it over and put a tsp of the filling on one side of the pancake and cover with the other half to get a semi-circle.

• 5. Cook the pancake on both the sides till crisp brushing with a little oil.. serve hot with a sauce of your choice.