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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Zucchini Onion Fritters- a hybrid of Ghiya/lauki ke pakorey


Hope you all have a splendid time on Janamashtami-Belated Janamashtami wishes to all of you.May God Krishna give his blessings to each and every one of us.
It’s been quite a while now I have updated here. Be prepared for my ramblings in this post friends.And if you are still interested then read on.
Schools have open up after a long summer holiday. Kids are off to school now. And suddenly there is numbness in my apartment during daytime.This has become so calm that sometimes I want my daughter, to be back with me from her school, screaming and playing all over the house just as she would do in her holidays. You know the irony is few days ago, I was complaining to my DH that she is making a mess of the house all this summer vacation with all her crafts work scattered –too much work for a child like her , paper clippings, paper cuttings and paper sheets, craft feathers, masks and Origami Crafts scattered here and there. And with her cartoons running most of the times on Telly-Humf, Mickey Mouse clubhouse and Timothy goes to school; I started wondering when my daughter will start her new session in school. Now that it’s all over, I mean summer vacation, I want her to be with me again. I am even more complaining now isn't, writing it in my blog here openly.


There was this special day when our little angel turned six recently.We both as parents are really blessed to have a sweet daughter like her. May God Bless Her with all the happiness in the world.


This is her birthday cake with six fondant flowers all hand made without any cutters or rollers or accessories. Made two cakes in 13*9 inch baking sheets and layered it with double cream+cherry+strawberry flavored gelatin. Recipe for black forest cake is Click Here.


Now to our travel update.Since this was a long weekend with an additional holiday on Monday, we thought perhaps it would be a nice idea to spend it outdoor traveling by train.







We were also utilizing this long weekend holiday, visiting new places in around London. From Sunday onwards weather was sunny .And when sun is shining mostly everyday which is quite a rare happening in this part of the world, who wants to remain indoor or logged on to internet for net surfing, at least I don’t like to.
And when we have good network of trains here .There are possibly hundreds of places to visit. This is our savior when we are just nagging about how to spend our time here particularly on long weekend holidays. Just board any train and enjoy the serenity of nature’s beauty. A perfect way to spend a good relaxing time with family. And I don’t need to mention grown-ups and children both enjoy train journeys even if they are meant for about an hour.


Henley-on-Thames has a small town charm. People have a relaxing mood here. Thames River looks so sparkling clean here. We sat near the bank of the river for sometimes, to soak up the tranquility of that place inside us and breathe fresh air.


People here do come for boating.One of Britain’s favorite way of spending  a relaxed weekend.

And to some other hobby-knitting updates.




Another hobby which has been keeping me occupied during these days- is knitting.Whatever time I am getting  after traveling and attending to my family, I like to utilize this time pursuing my new hobby.


I have made a small bag for my little daughter. Just cast on some 30-40 stitches and knit for two rows, then knit in Stockinette stitching for rest of the rows till the desired length is obtained.


Fold in half to check the breadth and length for the bag. Bind off when desired length is obtained. For the handle of the bag –cast on some 100-110 stitches and then bind off next rows.You can increase or decrease the stitch for a longer or shorter handle.



With the help of a sewing needle or blunt end needle, sew the sides for the bag and then handles. If you wish you may decorate the bag with some beads or some plastic flowers for the extra girlie effect.You can choose other type of yarns also,I choosed this white fuzzy yarn as per my daughter's wish.You may like to visit here for detailed instructions then -Click Here for the free pattern.

 Now finally it's time for cooking , which I do take earnestly.

Now to the recipe for Zucchini Fritters

I have always felt there are many vegetables which are still under-used in Indian cooking like zucchini. I have used zucchini in a normal stir/fry way and also made zucchini with posto or poppy seed paste, a recipe inspired from Ahaar by Mandira.
I have been trying out many recipes from Julie Sahni’s cookbook recently(last made murg shahi korma(Click here for the recipe)
This recipe of zucchini fritters is inspired by her zucchini fritters. In eastern UP, ghiya or lauki ke pakore is very famous. I do think zucchini has striking resemblance to lauki/ghiya/bottle gourd because of its water content. Grate zucchini as you would have grated ghiya/lauki and mix in with chopped coriander, onion and all the seasonings, fry it in hot oil and you are ready with zucchini bhajiyas/pakoda.A little different recipe for pakoda with vegetables but worth trying it.

Zucchini onion fritters/Zucchini onion pakoda


Recipe requirements
1 medium size zucchini
1 onion
3-4 green chilies
½ cup of chopped coriander leaves
¾ cup of yogurt
1 cup of besan/chick pea flour
2 tsp of red pepper powder
2 tsp of coriander powder
1 tsp of cumin powder
Salt as per taste
Method
Grate zucchinis and chop onion as finely as you can.
In a mixing bowl, add all the above-besan, yogurt, grated zucchini, chopped onion, green chilies, coriander and the seasonings-cumin-coriander powder, red pepper powder and salt.
Heat up a deep bottom pan/kadhai; add cooking oil up to half.
Heat up well, and drop one tablespoon of the batter to the hot oil and fry all the pakodas.
Drain over paper towel. Serve with a cup of tea and tomato ketchup.
Note-
You may use ghiya/lauki/bottle gourd in place of zucchinis.But it’s better to take the seeds out of the lauki from the middle and then grate.

Thanks for visiting Spice and Curry

14 comments:

  1. Dear Jaya, First of all lots of love and wishes to your daughter on her birthday....May all her dreams come true...

    Secondly, lovely snaps of your tour...I felt like roaming around the place right now...

    Thirdly, the bag looks awesome...I wish if you stay near to me then I could surely learn this from you..I love any kind of crafts..

    And last but not the least...CAn I have some fritters...though had lunch an hour back, but seeing those my tongue started tickling and stomach started rumbling..

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Jayashree
    Very nice posting. I enjoyed thoroughly specially the trave; and the photos.
    Have a nice weekend

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  3. Love fritters, looks delish oh i love london. We might be in London end of this month for few days.

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  4. Belated Birthday wishes to your little princess!

    Loved the Zucchini Fritters recipe! Would be perfect with a cuppa tea :-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy B'day to the little girl. Ki shundor cake ta baniyecho. Recipe ta dilena keno ? Ki je layering bolcho, oi shob details diye recipe ta diyo. Ami ei rokom cake kokhono korini

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for sharing those beautiful clicks, very pleasant to eyes..Lovely bag,looks truly very cute...My belated birthday wishes to ur daughter on ur birthday..

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kamalika,
    Thanks for liking this post,your words here meant a lot to me ..
    hugs :-)..

    Ushnish da,
    Thank you for coming here and liking the travel photos.Aapnar blog er shondor travel er chobi r moton tube chobi othe ni, sotti!

    happy,
    thank you for coming here.Really?

    Rachana,
    Thanks and yeah with a cup of tea it's just the kind of thing you need.

    Sandeepa,
    Cake ta black forest cake,noton kicho na ..layering-whipping cream + cherry and strawberry flavour gelatine er ekta packet-jeyita aamra jelly /jello banabar jonne use kori ( tumi jello r O packet use korte paro),just whip all together and layer koro two cakes ke ek 'er opor ek rekhe.. Two cakes in 13*9 makes two rectangular cake cut into half that makes four cake.Layer the whipping cream mixture and place the cake halves.

    Priya,
    Thanks for your warm wishes.

    hugs and smiles to all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. tomar hapa sandesh er comment er reply-
    tumio ki Bhapa Sandesh shambondhye jano na???naki twist ta notun....Eta ami meyeke charm korar jonnyo akta notun twist debar try korechhi...

    Aare hyan tomar fondant cake er kotha mention kortebhule gachhi...darun hoechhe....ami jantam na je jello diyeo cake er layering kora jae.....shikhlam tomar kach theke...Tumi to ato creative tomar to fondant roll diye design aro easy lagbe...tumi kothin bolle ami kothaye jai boloto....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Meyer janmadiner cake ta sadharon hoeche Jaya. dekhte dekhte 6 bachor hoe gelo...etai mone hoche to. anek ador ar shubhecha. bhagaban khub bhalo rakhun oke. tumi je ajkal khub creatively samay spend korcho seto bojhai jache. ki sundor bag baniecho...meye nischai khub khushi. amder akhon fever er season cholche. chele ami aar baba sabbai aksonge porechi. kije jhamela ki olbo. aar jarer mukhe tomar pakoda dekhe khub khete ichche korche. very good use of unusual vegetables. bhalo theko.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Happy sixth birthday!

    Those pix are great - envy you for being able to see such beautiful places easily!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kamalika,
    amra bhapa sandesh ricotta diye bana e na..eyi jonno ekto noton recipe laglo.Thanks.

    Sayantani,
    eyi rey! taratari sobayi bhalo hoye jao tumra..bachader kicho hole amar ekdom bhalo lagey na.Thanks tumar wishes er jonno.

    Sra,
    yeah, train connections are really good here and country side has breath-taking views here.Thanks

    hugs and smiles to all of you

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Jaya

    belated Happy B'day to your daughter..it was my son's b'day too on asthmi..lovely fritters!

    ReplyDelete
  13. thank you so much for your contributions to The Recipe Diary.

    ReplyDelete

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