For the last alphabet ‘Z,’ I am presenting these Zucchini Pakoras, one of kiddo’s favorite. Zucchini Pakoras are perfect tea-time snacks or party/potluck appetizers, and it is made with zucchini(obviously), onion, and chickpea flour combined with other spices. It’s a quick fried snack that you can make under 30 minutes. As I wrote a lengthy post for the past two days (Xanthan Gum and Yam Roast), I thought I will keep this post short and sweet err savory. :-) In Tamil, zucchinis are known as Seemai Suraikai. zucchini is a versatile veggie like potatoes and it aptly fits in any cuisine. As I mentioned in my first post of this BM journey, I wanted to cover all the meals and menu items of TN cuisine as much as I can. Pakoras are one of the popular items in a roadside tea stall. You can find thool pakoda, onion pakoda and many other varieties.
The addition of fennel seeds gives a nice masala flavor to this pakoda. Also, rice flour adds crispiness and baking soda helps in puffing up the pakoda while frying. For this recipe, I didn’t use much water. Zucchini has a lot of water content and I didn’t squeeze the water from the grated zucchini. I used the zucchini water to mix the batter. Do not let the batter sit for a long time. Fry the pakoda right away as zucchini oozes out a lot of water. Without any further delay, here is the recipe for Z – zucchini pakoda.
Zucchini Pakoda Recipe with Step-Wise Pictures-
Ingredients:
Zucchini – 1 Chopped Onion – ¼ cup Besan/Chick Pea Flour – 1 cup Rice flour – 1 tbsp. Baking Soda – ½ tsp Salt – 1 tsp Red chili powder – 1 tsp Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp Water – 3 to 4 tbsps Oil – for frying
Prep Work:
Sift the besan/chickpea flour. Peel the zucchini skin and grate them. Finely chop the onions and we need about ¼ cup of chopped onions.
Steps:
In the pan or kadai heat the oil for frying in medium flame. Meanwhile, you can prepare the batter. In a wide bowl, add the besan/chickpea flour, salt, red chili powder, rice flour, baking soda, fennel seeds, chopped onion, and grated zucchini. (Everything except water and oil)
Do not add water initially. Mix them well. The water from zucchini will help to bind and bring all the ingredients together. If you feel, the batter is still thick, drizzle some water and mix again.
Once the oil is hot, take a small portion of the batter and slowly drop it in oil. In one batch I tried up to 4 small Pakoras. Let them fry till they turn golden brown or until the oil bubble sound ceases.
Take them out and let them sit in the tissue paper to remove the excess oil. Repeat the same with the remaining batter.
That’s it. Yummy pakodas are ready. I served this with ketchup. You can also serve this with peanut chutney or coconut chutney
Recipe Notes-
Adjust the salt and spice according to your preference. Make sure the oil is medium heat before frying. This ensures soft, crispy, and well-cooked pakodas. Do not let the batter sit for a long time. Fry the pakoda right away as zucchini oozes out a lot of water. Also if you feel the batter is soggy, add more rice flour or chickpea flour. In that case, adjust the salt and spice. Fennel seeds and baking soda are optional. If you are adding water, just drizzle and mix the batter. Other veggies can be added to prepare mixed vegetable pakoras.
📖 Recipe
