Zucchini Bites/ Vadas
It’s been raining hard last night, the earth is soaked, a kind of freshness in the air, the green grass is growing all over the place,an old hindi song is playing, a kind of peace prevails.Some feelings come packed with food memories….. standing next to a road side mobile cart, eating hot vadas & coffee while rain poured during our student days comes to mind…..a favorite Aunt, a family friend who had 4 sons but no daughters pampered me with her authentic hot vadas as a kid each time we visited her as kids & said she wanted to adopt me as her daughter , I’d be glad to be adopted by her today, I thought as the growing urge to eat vadas grew stronger in me by the minute, well…. I had to play pretend Aunt today & make myself some of these soul stirring deep fried vadas! Yup, for a healthy minute, I thought of baking these vadas, then I told myself, it’s not like we get to eat vadas every day, to hell with the health freaks, today I am going to eat this deep fried bits of heaven, after all it’s not like we are going to get out of this life alive grin emoticon
So thinking, I stepped into the kitchen, that’s when the Zucchinis my friend had given me came to mind.My friend like me is an avid gardner, she had planted zucchinis, which had run out of birth control she says “They are everywhere, there’s no stopping them now” so she has become the “Charity Zucchini mom” for this season in the community,she lovingly admits.They are fresh from her backyard, home grown with love, so here I was wanting to make the best of them & where else would I find the perfect blend, but in these yummy Zucchini vadas.Laughter from my friends echoed in my mind’s eye, standing next to a “mobile canteen” as rain washed the roads of Mangalore as we sipped hot coffee & munched into vadas during our break time…some memories are like that, to hold in the palm of your hand on grey rainy days & cherish in the warmth they bring.Thoughts flooded as each vada went into the hot piping oil & came out crisp, coating the air with its deliciousness…what better way to start a rainy weekend, me thinks.Enjoy!
P.S : For those of you, who are health conscious, go ahead bake them, you will never know what you missed.
Ingredients
2 2 Zucchini ( grated with skin)
1 1 big Onion (finely sliced)
1 1/2 cup 1 1/2 Chickpea flour/Besan
1 tsp 1 Red chili powder
1/2 tsp 1/2 Cumin powder
1/2 tsp 1/2 Coriander powder
A pinch Baking soda
Salt- to taste
Cilantro/Coriander leaves- optional
Oil- to fry
Directions
- Mix all the ingredients ( except the oil) with 1-2 tbsp of water, then add the Zucchini last.
- Allow it to sit for 10-20 minutes till all the zucchini is coated.
- There is no need to add extra water , since Zucchini releases water, enough for the mix to become paste like in consistency .
- Meanwhile heat oil in a deep wok, for frying the vadas, when the oil is hot, scoop the zucchini mix in a small spoon & drop them gently into the hot oil(If the mix is too watery, please, squeeze out the water since it will absorb more oil otherwise, following the above directions, should not land you in that problem, coz’ it will be just enough to make round balls or patties out of the mix)
- Gently, flip them over on both sides , so they are cooked well & turns a golden brown.Gently scoop them out of hot oil in a slotted spoon, spread them on a kitchen towel to cool & also for excess oil to be absorbed by the paper towel.
- Serve it hot with mint & cilantro chutney or any tomato sauce.( Mine did not last for the cilantro chutney, so stuck to the sauce instead )
Rainy days & weekends never looked so good before smile emoticon Have a lovely Mother’s Day weekend !