Zucchini Fritters

It is squash season. In addition to the zucchini that my single zucchini plant puts out husband also brought home some giant zucchinis from work that one of colleagues grows in his backyard. And so I have made a list of zucchini recipes I need to try. One of the top things on my list was zucchini fritters.

One of my fondest childhood memories are my mothers deep fried cutlets. Some weekends we would wake up from our naps to the sound of these potato cutlets stuffed with peas, onion and carrots sizzling in oil. My mother would form oval cutlets dip them in bread crumbs and deep fry them until they were just past golden brown. We had far more of these than was good for us.

So this weekend armed with a fridge full of zucchini and a slower metabolism I found this recipe for skinny zucchini fritters.


My version left out the Parmesan and a lot of the spices since I wanted to keep the flavors simple.


Recipe for Zucchini Fritters

1 very large zucchini grated.
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp dried basil
salt to taste
1tsp paprika ( depending on how spicy your paprika is add to taste)
2 tbsp egg white

Grate the zucchini with the peel on. Collect in a paper towel and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Place this grated zucchini in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix and get ready to make fritters.

Shape into fritters.


Shallow fry in a pan on both side. I used my cast iron skillet for this and crust on these was perfect.



Eat with favorite dipping sauce. Lie back with a full stomach and take a nap.

Basil Vodka

I love basil. It is my favorite herb by a stretch. It is a party in my mouth just by itself.



I like to water my plants in the morning when the weather is mild and the air is still kind of crisp. Plants esp herbs let out a pocket of scent as you water them and the fresh air of the morning is the perfect backdrop. Basil followed by rosemary are the loveliest scents in my garden. I am a relatively new gardener and the first time this happened while I was watering my plants it made me smile for an hour.

But I digress. So I have two pots of sweet basil, one pot of Thai basil, a couple of assorted window boxes of lime basil and Genovese basil. So what do you do when you have tons of basil and a taste for languid, chatty evenings with the husband with a glass in hand.

Basil Vodka!!!



This bottle of vodka made the most lovely martini I have ever had.

Recipe for Basil Vodka

1 cup of packed sweet basil leaves ( Any other type of basil will also work and lend its specific flavour to the vodka. Its basil, you can't go wrong)
a small bottle of vodka

I used a glass container and placed the basil leaves at the bottom. Pour the vodka over it and cover. Keep this container in a place with cool spot with low light. After 24 hours filter and pour the vodka back into the bottle. Keep this bottle away for a week or more away from direct sunlight as the flavors develop.



Enjoy basil vodka. Drink responsibly and do not drink and drive. :) In fact this is a good reason to stay home cos a martini with this vodka will beat any martini at the local bar.