Crispy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside, these Zucchini Fritters are an excellent way to use the season's bounty. The recipe is naturally vegan and easy to make with ingrediets like whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, onion, herbs and seasonigs.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Snacks
  • Cuisine: American, World

Ingredients

  • ½ heaping cup/75 grams/2.7 ounces whole wheat flour
  • ¼ cup/25 grams/0.9 ounce chickpea flour (or gram flour (besan))
  • 3 cups thickly grated zucchini/2 medium sized/500 grams/1.10 pounds zucchini
  • ⅓ cup onions (- finely chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon garlic (- finely chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons celery stalk (- finely chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons parsley (or cilantro (coriander leaves), chopped)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper (- crushed or ¼ to ½ teaspoon black pepper powder- add as per taste)
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅛ teaspoon black salt (- optional)
  • ½ teaspoon salt (or add as required)
  • 10 to 12 tablespoons olive oil (or sunflower oil or any neutral flavored oil for frying)

Method

Preparation:

  1. Finely chop the onion, celery stalk, garlic cloves and a few parsley leaves.
  2. Rinse the zucchini first and then pat dry with a kitchen towel. Grate them thickly using a hand-held grater or box grater or a food processor. Do not grate them finely. Use the larger holes on whichever grater you choose or grate in the food processor. You can peel the zucchini if you want to.

Making batter

  1. Take the grated zucchini in a mixing bowl. Add the chopped onions, garlic, parsley and celery.
  2. Add both whole wheat flour and chickpea flour. Season with crushed black pepper (crushed), black salt (optional) and regular salt. Add the baking powder.
  3. Mix very well. Depending on the water content in the zucchini, the batter can become too thick or thin. If the batter becomes very thick, then sprinkle some water. If the batter becomes thin and runny, then add some wheat flour.

Frying

  1. In a seasoned and heavy 10 to 10.5 inches cast-iron skillet or pan heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil on medium-low or medium heat. For frying each batch of 3 to 4 zucchini fritters add 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil. Using a serving spoon or ¼ cup measure begin to pour the batter on the pan.
  2. With the back of the spoon or measuring cup, spread lightly. Do not spread thin as the fritters will break.
  3. Begin to fry medium low to medium heat. Fry three to four zucchini fritters at a time.
  4. When one side is crisp and golden, gently remove and flip. Fry the second side till golden and crisp. For even frying you can flip once or twice.
  5. Remove and place them on kitchen paper towels for a brief period just for the extra oil to be soaked up. Do not keep for long as then they stick to the paper towel. You can even use a strainer with a bowl underneath to drain the oil. Make all zucchini fritters this way.
  6. Serve Zucchini Fritters hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.