I am not a big fan of zucchini. The main reason being I just don’t know what to do with it. In one of our recent visits to the grocery store, I saw this huge, beautiful pile of zucchinis and I couldn’t resist buying them, and I never stopped to think about how I should cook them. A week went by and I kept ignoring the looks they gave me every time I opened the refrigerator. Finally, when I could take it no longer (I am sure they couldn’t either!) I took them out of the refrigerator and 20 mins later, I still did not know how to cook them! After looking what other ingredients I had on hand, I decided to try out zucchini tikki.
Aloo was not part of the equation when I started prepping. However, I realized that zucchini needed something to help it bind in a tikki form. Hence, the addition of potato. I did not want to fry the tikkis for obvious reasons and baked them instead. Of course they did not look as pretty as they would have if they had been fried. But they were not bad..actually they tasted pretty darn good for a bland vegetable. I probably should have mashed the zucchini instead of grating, because it had kind of a stringy look..however no stringy texture. What a healthy way to eat your vegetable AND get a spicy kick out it ..what could you ask for more? 
Ta
PS: I would love to hear your ideas on how to cook zucchini..somehow it just seems such a bland and boring vegetable. 
Recipe: Zucchini Aloo Tikki
(Makes 6 tikkis)
Ingredients
2 medium sized zucchinis
1 potato
2 green chillies
1 small piece of ginger
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 tsp lemon juice
salt per taste
pepper per taste
Method
Preheat the oven at 400 F. Boil the potato and finely grate the zucchinis. Grind green chillies and ginger together. In a bowl, add the boiled potato, grated zucchini, bread crumbs, green chilli-ginger mix, lemon juice, salt and pepper. If needed, add more bread crumbs to bind the tikkis.
Aluminum foil a baking pan and spray some oil over it. Place the tikkis and spray some olive oil over the tikkis. Bake the tikkis for 15 mins or unless they are lightly browned. Enjoy these with some ketchup or chutney!
August 16, 2008 at 1:51 am |
Lot oks good to me.
You could add some bread or besan too, if you wanted, for binding.
It can used in bread or you could make “kootu” with it.
August 16, 2008 at 5:16 am |
The tikkis look delicious. I love to use zucchini for savory pancakes and kofta curry. Another summer favorite: thin slices (coins) of zucchini browned in olive oil along with lots of garlic, then tossed with pasta, herbs and some parmesan. Or you could make zu-canoes: zucchini sliced lengthwise and then stuffed and baked. Zucchini might be a bit bland on its own but it is so versatile.
August 16, 2008 at 7:43 am |
THIS LOOKS SO NIC…
August 16, 2008 at 11:35 am |
wow! so good….cant wait t o taste them
August 16, 2008 at 11:57 am |
Those tikkis looks yum! You can make zucchini fritters as well, if you don’t mind fried food.
August 17, 2008 at 3:45 pm |
I think the pix look fab! They look crsipy & really yum!
August 17, 2008 at 4:37 pm |
Thank you Aparna and Nupur for your ideas. Nupur..I’ll try your kofta recipe soon
Thank you Notyet, Sangeeth, Sig, Vani.
August 17, 2008 at 8:46 pm |
That is a swell way to use the zucchini. I almost always buy a couple to roast along with other veggies (like yellow squash, carrots, onions, garlic, red & green bell peppers) to either use in paninis or to bake with pasta and cheese. Hope to try this one day.
August 18, 2008 at 3:59 pm |
Thanks Laavanya. I need to use zucchini more often..like you said, with pasta wouldbe good option.
August 19, 2008 at 10:57 pm |
Looks great and the crust look so inviting to bite into . Thanks so much for this.
August 20, 2008 at 8:26 am |
Thanks Jude