Sep 02 2009
Zucchini Fritters
Another traditional dish which I learned from my grandmother. Traditionally this is made with Chinese Okra which is grown abundantly in Vasai and is generally available throughout the monsoon season (June-September). These crispy fritters are perfect accompaniments with fish curry and rice.
Chinese Okra is not available in US supermarkets, but can be sometimes be found in Asian and Indian grocery stores. I have used Zucchini here instead.
Ingredients: Makes about 24 fritters
1 medium Zucchini
1medium red onion, sliced thinly
1 tsp grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped fine
1 green chilli, chopped fine
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
1 Tbsp meat masala
1/4 cup rice flour
1/4 cup chick pea flour
salt
2 Tbsp cooking oil
Cut the Zucchini into 4 slices lengthwise. Taking two slices at a time, chop them finely into strip. Add to a bowl with all the remaining ingredients except for the oil, rice flour and chick pea flour. Allow to rest for about an hour. This was my grandma’s trick to avoid adding water to the batter. When you let the mixture of Zucchini and onions stand for a while, the salt draws out the water from the veggies which is enough to form a batter.
Add the rice flour and chickpea flour to form a thick batter (thicker than pancake batter). Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a saute pan(preferably non stick) on medium heat. Drop the batter one tablespoon at a time, flattening it with the base of the spoon. Fry on each side till they are brown, remove on paper towels to drain excess oil.
Notes:
- Add extra rice flour if the batter isn’t thick enough.
- The batter can be frozen for up to 1 week.
- If using Chinese okra, peel the Okra, slit it into half lengthwise, seed it and slice it thinly.
- You could use 1/2 tsp chili powder,1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp cumin powder and 1/2 tsp coriander powder instead of the meat masala.

This is a wonderful idea, I have so many zucchinis in the garden right now this will be a fun one to try. May I post it on my website?
Have a great evening, Katherine
Katie, You may post the recipe on your website with due credit of course! 🙂
Yumm! These look great!
This is a wonderful recipe. A must try.
My dear cousin Anjali has the following information on the chinese okra : “Also the ridge gourd is available at our local Safeway and Albertsons/Lucky stores. I think it is used in Mexican cuisine as well.”
Looks delicious ! Cheers !
I definitely would prefer the zucchini to okra anyways – looks great this way! Very impressive!
I have never made these, they look so crispy and tasty 🙂 yumm…I also like the words which comes up in this Anti-Spam word, usually its tough and quiet inconvenient to type weird words, but the ones i saw here, are simple , thanks for that 🙂