Author Notes
The classic comfort food for a rainy day in most Indian Households is a platter of Crisp, piping hot Bhajias/Pakoras and cups of spicy hot Masala Tea. The assorted vegetables used for the fries were anything from Potatoes (the favorites that got polished off first) to rounds of eggplant, plantain, cauliflower, the occasional green tomato, and finally sliced onions which were tossed to be coated in the last of the batter and fried up in the very end.
Growing up, zucchinis were unheard of although there were variants of the squash. but they make for an awesome candidate for Bhajias.
As to why these were more of fries rather than roundels, its because my 6 year old insisted on having a snack of zucchini sticks which she promptly left untouched after a single glance. and there was no way i was going to let a whole farm fresh specimen go to waste. —Panfusine
Ingredients
- Batter
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1 cup
Chickpea flour
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1/2 cup
rice flour
-
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoons
Cayenne chili powder
-
1/2 tablespoon
Aamchur
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1/2 teaspoon
baking powder
-
salt to taste
-
plain seltzer as needed
- vegetable for frying
-
1
medium zucchini
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2 cups
Panko bread crumbs
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3 cups
Vegetable or Canola oil for deep frying
-
tomato salt / chat masala for serving
Directions
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slice the zucchinis into 1/4 inch thick slices at an oblique angle and then cut these slices into sticks. pat dry on a kitchen towel
-
mix all the ingredients for the batter together taking care to ensure that there are no lumps. The consistency should be that of pancake batter.
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heat the oil in a Cast iron pan until it just barely starts smoking. dip the zucchini sticks into the batter and shake off the excess. Then roll these into the Panko crumbs ensuring that the pieces are evenly coated. Drop them into the oil and allow to fry up until the pieces turn golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle with a bit of chat masala or tomato salt prior to serving.
A biomedical engineer/ neuroscientist by training, currently a mommy blogger on a quest for all things food - Indian Palate, Global perspective!
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