Zucchini Blossoms Fritters / Bajji

Hi All! Its been a while since I updated my blog. I was just busy with my routine and too lazy these days. Today, my husband asked me in the morning, "why don't you talk about updates from your blog and your blogging friends?" I usually tell my husband about the blogs that I find interesting, nice articles, nice recipes, I also show him pics of the dishes etc.. I haven't updated myself with the blog for some time. So  I guess he missed my updates. I was really happy to see him ask me such a question because usually whenever I tell him about my blog or updates he would just say "ok" ! I always thought these things never interest him. But today when he asked that question is when I understood he actually paid attention to my updates. Anyways, I will try and be sincere to my blog which I keep telling all the time but this time, I hope to be more frequent in posting my recipes. 

Coming to this bajji, I saw long time back in Now Serving's blog about these fritters. She has also explained nicely how to distinguish the male and female flowers. I would like to add one point to hers. The male flowers are just flowers that comes from a long stalk. The fruit bearing ones (female flowers) have the fruit just below the flower which can be easy identified. We use the male flowers for this bajji.

I tried these fritters and it came out really well. My husband loved it too. The original recipe is here. I added few ingredients and omitted the ones that I din't have. So my version goes here.. 

Ingredients:

Zucchini Blossoms - about 5-6 that i had from my garden washed thoroughly 

Gram Flour / Besan Flour - 3 tbsp

Rice Flour - 1 tbsp for crispness

Salt - to taste

Asafoetida - a pinch

Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp or to taste

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Preparation:

Mix gram flour, rice flour, salt, chilli powder, asafoetida and turmeric with water and bring it to a nice thin batter ( similar to pancake /dosa batter) 

Dip the blossoms in the batter and deep fry in oil. 

Serve with hot sauce or some chutney. 

Sending this to Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Priya and started by Aipi 

See you soon! 

CREAMY BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

My husband and I went to a restaurant here in San Diego for a buffet. Being vegetarians, we knew our options would be limited but still we wanted to give it a try since its a very famous restaurant here in San Diego for Sunday Brunches. So there we tasted this butternut squash soup and I fell in love with this soup immediately. It was so rich and creamy. I can never forget the taste of it ever. We really loved the soup. Not only soup, we had so many vegetarian options as well. But this was super hit. So I decided to make this at home but never got a chance till now. When I went to my market this week for my veggies, I found butternut squash and I picked it immediately.  So, today, I am presenting to you all my fav butternut squash soup. 

Ingredients:

Butternut squash - 1/2 of medium sized squash - 1.25 cups diced chunks

Onion - 1 medium

Carrots - 2 chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves (optional)

Butter - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste 

Red Pepper flakes - 1 tsp

Black pepper powder - to taste

Water/ Veggie broth - 1 cup

Heavy cream - 3 tbsp or to taste

Preparation: 

In a pan, melt butter and add 2 cloves of garlic. When it turns golden brown take it out and toss it away. In that same pan, add onions and saute till it becomes caramelized. 

Add carrots and squash and saute for about a min and add water/ veggie broth just enough to cover the squash, salt and cover it. Let it simmer for about 20 mins. 

Make sure the squash and carrots are cooked well and is tender. If not let it simmer for another 10 mins till it becomes tender (You should be able to mash the squash with a fork).

Take the veggies in a blender and blend it to a smooth paste. 

Transfer the contents back to the pan with the stock and add spices according to needs. 

Let it cook for couple of mins and add about 3 tbsp heavy cream. 

The color of the soup is similar to color of carrot but since I added cream, the color is lighter than the usual. 

Serve hot with garlic bread and relish the soup! 

Sending this to Deb' Souper Sundays

PUNJABI MANGO PICKLE FOR ICC

This month Srivalli sent us the recipe of Punjabi Mango Pickle from Simran's Blog for ICC. It was really exciting for me because I don't make pickle so much. I always thought it is a process to make pickle and I assumed that I might not be so good like our grand moms or mom. But as soon as I saw this recipe, I was so excited to try it as soon as I could. It was very different. I am so used to the south Indian type of pickle. This one was a change for us.

Ingredients:

Raw Mangoes - 5 kgs

Mustard oil - 250 ml

Salt - 700 grams

Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 100 grams 

Kalonji / Nigella seeds - 50 grams 

Saunf / Fennel Seeds - 100 grams

Turmeric powder - 100 grams 

Whole Peppercorns - 50 grams 

Sugar - 2 tbsp 

But we got the quantity reduced by Srivalli which is below

Raw Mangoes - 1/2 kgs

Mustard oil - 50 ml

Salt - 70 grams

Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 10 grams 

Kalonji / Nigella seeds - 5 grams 

Saunf / Fennel Seeds - 10grams

Turmeric powder - 10grams 

Whole Peppercorns - 5grams 

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Wash mangoes and cut into small cubes and dry it under sun for 2-3 hours. 

Keep creamic/glass bowl dry and ready.

In the bowl, add  all the following whole spices - kalonji, fenugreek seeds, pepper, salt, sugar, turmeric and mix well. 

Transfer it to another ceramic jar and keep in the sun for another day. 

Add mustard oil to cover the mangoes. 

The flavors are well brought out if it is left in the jar for about 15 days. 

Shake the jar everyday for 15 days.