Zucchini Fritters

Fritters are usually food prepared by deep frying meats, vegetables or fruits dipped in batter. There are some fritters that do not require deep frying and looks like cakes or rather mini pancakes. I was surprised to learn that even patties and kebabs fall under fritters.

According to wiki, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritter American fritters are small cakes made with mixing the primary ingredients with egg and flour to bind the batter. For the last day of fritters I had planned on making American fritters but with a different ingredient. I wanted to make Baltimore style crab cakes and I could not find good quality crab meat. I dropped the idea and made zucchini fritters has I had all the ingredients at home. Some zucchini fritters called for grated parmesan cheese and I chose the Smitten Kitten recipe as this does not require cheese. Fritters are shallow fried and baked in moderate oven for 10 minutes to make them crisp.

I wanted to add some green chilies to spice it up but held back in the last minute. Fritters were mildly spiced to my taste and next time will spice it up with some green chilies. Mr.U also tasted and he said these were not bad and finished it off. I was sure he would not like it and he said he could eat them but were a little bland. Though the fritters were a bit bland, I liked them.

Source: Smitten Kitten
Total Time: 20 - 25 minutes
Preparation: 5 - 10 minutes
Cooking: 5 - 6 minutes
Baking: 10 minutes
Yields: 10

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized Zucchini, approx. 475 grm / little over 1 lb
• 1 tsp. Salt + more to taste (I did not need to add more)
• 2 Scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 large Egg
• ½ tsp. Black Pepper Powder (adjust to taste)
• ½ cup All Purpose Flour
• ½ tsp. Baking Powder
• 2 tbsp. Oil for frying and more if required

Dip:

• ⅓ cup Yogurt
• 1 tsp. Real Lime (would recommend freshly squeezed)
• Pinch of Salt
• 1 small Garlic minced (I used chili sauce instead but prefer garlic also)

Preparation:

• Wash zucchini, trim the tips. Grate/shred the zucchini using a shredding blade in the food processor or using a large hole of the grater box. I grated using the box.
• Take grated zucchini in bowl, add teaspoon of salt and keep aside for 10 minutes. I let it aside for almost 30 minutes as I had to run an errand. You will surprised how much water will be released. Using clean hands squeeze as much water as possible.
• Preheat the oven to 200F. Prepare a baking sheet and keep aside.
• Take the squeezed zucchini into another bowl, add scallions, pepper, egg and mix well.
• In another bowl mix together flour and baking soda. Add this flour to zucchini mixture and mix well until flour is well blended.
• Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a wide (10”) cast iron pan or a non stick pan. I used cast iron pan.
• When the oil is hot, drop some batter with a teaspoon and dap it a bit to spread. Do not overcrowd the pan. I made it in two batches of 5 each.
• Cook the fritters until the bottom is light brown, about 1-2 minutes, flip and cook for another few minutes until brown.
• Drain on paper towel, transfer to baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes.
• Serve hot with dip or can be eaten as it is.
• To prepare the dip, mix all the ingredients together.
• These fritters stay good in the fridge for up to a week or freeze well in sealed bag. To reheat warm them in a 325 F oven.