If you have a) too many courgettes, b) one that got away and turned into a mini zeppelin or c) a partner who claims to hate summer squash, I may have the answer to your prayers. These bhajis are the business.
On first bite my husband rated them 'delicious', downgraded to 'quite nice' when he remembered what was in them. Next time I won't tell him.
They're quick to make and you don't need a deep fat fryer. You will need gram, or besan, flour, made from chickpeas and easily available in Asian stores. It gives the bhajis a lovely nutty taste.
Courgettes Bhajis (makes around 10)
Ingredients:
500g courgettes
180g onion, peeled and halved
1 or 2 hot green chillies, de-seeded and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
120g gram flour
2 tspn black onion seeds
1 tspn turmeric
1 heaped tspn cumin seeds
1 heaped tspn coriander seeds
1 tspn salt
1 tbsp lemon juice
Method:
Coarsely grate the courgettes and onions into a large bowl. Add the chopped green chillis and garlic, the lemon juice and black onion seeds and stir well.
Weight the gram flour into another bowl. Toast the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan until they smell fragrant, then grind to a powder. Add to the gram flour, along with the turmeric and salt. Stir with a fork to mix and to get any lumps out of the gram flour.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir thoroughly to coat all the strands of vegetable. Leave to one side and meanwhile put two centimetres of oil in a large deep frying pan on a medium heat.
When it is hot, carefully drop tablespoons of the courgette mixture separately into the pan, spreading fairly thinly into a circular shape to form fritters. Cook on each side until a deep golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper and keep warm while you make the remainder.
Serve hot with a minty yoghurt dip and maybe some chutneys on the side.
