Zucchini Bread - summer treat perfect for Indian palate

As most of you know we locked up home and went merrily on an India trip recently. While no amount of bribing would have made us trade that trip for something else, 2 things that bothered us were leaving behind Flora in her doggy care for 3 weeks, we had never done that before and the maximum she had stayed out at a stretch had been 4 days of vacation. The completely trusting girl she is, she went in happily with her care taker when BH dropped her off sniffing her food bag we had given, not sure what went on in her mind for the rest of the 3 weeks though. We missed her all the time, hoping and praying she would do alright. She came back home the same day we landed, jumped all over on us and went to sleep in her bed for an entire week getting up only for food :-), she is back to her routine of chasing birds and squirrels all over the back yard now and jumping deftly over my veggie patches to avoid stepping on the tomatoes, zucchinis and cucumbers. All is well!

Ah, those vegetable and flower plants were the second concern, it was summer, basking in the natural flood of light and warmth, the plants were taking shape and sprouting up well as we got ready to leave. The trip was planned last minute and there was not much we could do in terms of preparing, thankfully a cousin who lives in the town offered to come by every few days and make sure the plants were not dry. BH went ahead and put sprinklers for the plants as a backup and cousin P true to his word made his visits and kept the indoor plants thriving, thanks P, we owe you one on this.

We came back 3 weeks later to find 3 big, ready to be picked zucchinis and several tomatoes in different stages of ripening along with a bounty of greens and lettuce that had grown literally crazy :-). There was nothing we could do with the lettuce but pull them out with the roots as the plants were about 4.5 ft tall and flowering, No pictures however as the bad state of backyard didn't give us any time to stop and do the photo shoot. Our friendly neighbor Mr.J swirls his lawn mower into our front yard as he does his yard and BH returns the favor next time around, so while the front looked decent, the fenced backyard resembled a mini unkempt jungle of sorts! All chores taken care of and back to healthy selves, we are enjoying harvesting multiple batches of the veggies. The cucumbers are petite but very tasty, haven't had that taste in a long while, they are almost like the Indian kheera/kakdi, pop them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, cut and enjoy the cool, crisp bites, it doesn't get more 'locally grown' than this ;-). Not much luck with eggplants though :-(, still waiting.

So, I am not buying any more tomatoes this summer and definitely not any summer squashes or zucchinis :-), I have more than we can eat and distribute, the problem on hand is to find good ways to use them. Dal - done, pachadi - done, stir fry - done, pizza topping - done, veg crab cakes - done, so what else do I make from these really flavorful and yummy zucchinis? With the entire universe at my finger tips (thanks to Google), I searched and found innumerable recipes and sifting through them for vegetarian, egg free, preferably non sugary, the list got considerably small. But I landed on this bread which seemed like a miracle, easy being the middle name and versatile, the tag line of this particular recipe (ignore that completely cheesy talk, I do that sometimes)! But, truth be told this recipe adapts itself in so many different ways that you can create a new taste every time if you wanted and it was a perfect fit as I was looking for a non-sweet version of the recipe. It seemed a tad bit bland for my taste, so I added a little bit of this, pinch of that to personalize it and here it is, a definite keeper especially when it is such a wonderful way to consume those zucchinis.

What do you need to make Zucchini bread? 
Recipe adapted from: http://roxanashomebaking.com/zucchini-bread-vegan-recipe/
1 cup tightly packed grated zucchini (1/2 big zucchini)
2 green chilies - finely chopped
1/2 Tsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
1 Tblsp pine nuts - lightly toasted
1 Tblsp walnuts chopped - lightly toasted
3 cups bread flour
1+1/4 Tsp rapid rise yeast
1 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp fresh ground black pepper
Butter to brush

How do you make Zucchini bread? 

• Wash, remove the ends of the zucchini. 
• Grate about 1 cup (along with the green skin (it makes for beautiful color and is nutritious)
• Set it aside for 10 minutes. 
• Squeeze handfuls of zucchini and collect the water. 
• I got about 1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp of zucchini juice. 
• Warm the zucchini juice for about 15 seconds or until luke warm
• Take the bread flour in a mixing bowl, make a well in the center, sprinkle yeast and add the warm zucchini juice. 
• Mix gently and leave it to proof for about 5-7 minutes. See alternative way of proofing yeast in the notes below. 

• Now add the grated zucchini (squeeze out any additional juice if it looks damp), chopped nuts, salt, green chilies, ginger and chopped cilantro. 
• Bring everything together and hold off on adding water or zucchini juice. 
• Start kneading to make a dough and zucchini will continue to leave juice. Add the reserved juice only if needed. 
• Make a smooth dough and knead it for about 6-8 minutes to make a soft dough. 

• Cover and keep it to rise until it doubles in volume (mine took about 1.5 hours)
• Pre heat the oven to 375F.
• Take the risen dough out, punch it down, knead for a couple of minutes and divide into 2 balls. 

• Let them rest (provide space between the 2 balls to rise) covered for 20-30 minutes. The balls will look fluffier at that point. 
• Bake for 30-35 minutes (watch the oven for the last 10 minutes as it may vary) or until the top starts to get a nice golden hue. 
• Take it out and brush it with butter all over and leave it to cool down. 

• Once cool, cut into slices and enjoy with a pat of butter. 
• DD loved eating toasted slices with salted butter and a sprinkle of chutney pudi :-)

Notes: 

• Replace walnuts and pine nuts with any nuts of choice, I used them since I had them on hand. 
• You can add finely chopped dill leaves or lightly roasted onion but I liked the fresh zucchini flavor and left it untouched.
• Proofing yeast: If you are not sure of the yeast, it is better to proof it outside. Add yeast to a cup and add the warmed juice with a pinch of sugar, stir and let it rise for 5-7 minutes, When bubbles form and the mixture becomes frothy, add it to the bowl with flour. 
• Use the zucchini juice as the liquid in the recipe as much as possible to retain flavor, use water only if you run out of the juice. 

UPDATED ON 9/2/2014

One of my friends from work M who is an avid baker and a Zucchini lover herself, not only made this bread with enhancements but also brought slices for me to taste. One of her variations had chopped Dill & spring onions while the other had cheese and jalapeno in addition to the ingredients listed above. Both tasted delicious. Total euphoria for the blogger in me :-) and I went ahead to make another batch of this yummy bread, adding oil roasted chopped onion and dill leaves, doubled the quantity of nuts and the result was a super delicious loaf (well, 2 loaves) of zucchini bread. We are enjoying it with a topping of pickle :-). So if you want to make this bread super flavorful, roast 1/4 cup finely chopped onion, 2 green chilies and 1 cup of chopped Dill leaves in a Tbsp of oil until onion becomes limp and Dill gives out a wonderful aroma. Let cool and add this to the dough along with grated zucchini. 

Zucchini crab cakes - no they don't have crab meat in them

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade and a hundred other things and when it gives zucchinis you run to the internet to collect zucchini recipes :-). You see, zucchini is not a native vegetable where I grew up and all I could think of when I saw it was to put it in a standard dal or make a chutney or add them in paddus (think cucumber, bottle gourd, etc) which can get pretty repetitive and boring if you were to finish a seemingly unending supply of fresh zucchinis from the back yard. That is when you learn to appreciate the capabilities of search engines as it brings you pages and pages full of zucchini recipes as soon as you hit the enter button or move your finger on it :-). While I am putting the search results to good use, I will write about the ones we most relished and those that have been added into my standard repertoire.

I found a zucchini crab cake online which is a derivative of the popular recipe from the Chesapeake Bay area which can be either vegetarian or non vegetarian. Typically crab cakes have meat, eggs, mayo and spices and are griddle cooked until crisp on both sides, very similar to Indian tikkis and cutlets. I modified the zucchini crab cake recipe eliminating meat, eggs, mayo, all spice and pretty much everything from the original recipe :-), so what did I preserve? obviously the name (because I liked it), zucchini (that is why I went recipe hunting) and the concept of cooking it on the griddle (very appealing tea time snack). So here you go with a vegetarian reincarnation of zucchini crab cake a.k.a zucchini cutlet.

Take my word when I say these were some of the best tea time snacks I have made/had. Fresh Zucchinis, tender and delicious mixed with a few bites of crunchy onions, spiced with green chilies mixed with bread to give it body and cooked to crispiness on both sides, yumm.. makes your tea taste better.

On another note, I have been going slow on my blog posts and visits to my favorite blogs. Things have been very busy and exciting at home. I will try to post as often as possible until next month but will take pictures and preserve posts for later as I cook. Will catch up normal speed and more chit chat next month.

What do you need to make Zucchini cakes?
3 cups grated zucchini
1 Tblsp finely chopped onion
2 slices of bread
2-3 Tblsp bread crumbs
1-2 green chilies
4-5 sprigs of fresh cilantro
1/2 Tsp salt
2 Tblsp oil

How do you make Zucchini cakes?

• Wash, remove the ends of zucchini and grate it using the big holes on your grater.
• Keep the grated zucchini aside for a few minutes, squeeze the water out and take the zucchini gratings into a bowl.
• Soak the bread slices in water for 30 seconds, squeeze out the water completely and add it to the zucchini.
• Add the remaining ingredients, mix in. Take a golf ball sized mixture, pat it into a cake (about 1/2 -3/4 inch) and put it on a hot griddle.

• Drizzle a few drops of oil on top and let it cook on medium heat until the bottom turns a nice brown, flip it over and let it cook on the other side.

• Enjoy hot zucchini cakes with ketchup, sauce or chutneys.

Notes:

• Do not squeeze the zucchini completely, a little moisture makes the cakes succulent without being soggy.
• Measurements given here are approximate and what worked best for me. You can alter the amount of onions and chilies to suit your taste. I used home made wheat bread and had pretty thick slices. Also, adjust the bread crumbs quantity depending on how watery your zucchini is.
• You can add boiled potatoes or other vegetables but I would strongly recommend retaining zucchini as the focal point. The tender and delicate flavor of zucchini is something you will fall in love with easily and keeps the cake light and healthy.

• I grate the zucchini without peeling the green outer skin, this not only splashes pretty specks of green in the cake but is also healthier.
• Cook these cakes on medium heat slowly allowing the raw zucchini and onion to cook.
• I have added both soaked & squeezed bread which gives body to the cake and dry bread crumbs which helps make the mixture dry and renders crispiness.

Multigrain Zucchini paddu - Eat & stay healthy

Last Summer when I was in India (Ooh that tells me it is already over a year since I have been to India:-(), my personal limit is 2 years between visits and I start becoming all touchy after that. I am digressing, so let me postpone my India visit related rants to another day and get back to where I started. As I have told you before, my BIL is a foodie and a big time enthusiastic cook and he made these yummy, no soak, no grind paddus for us for one of the breakfasts. I love the concept of Paddus and I frequently make these cutesy items from my regular Dosa batter. So, as always I followed him to the kitchen to figure out the ingredients that made the delicious Paddus. He had used wheat flour, rava and a little bit of rice flour with lotsa grated cucumber. I came back to my kitchen and recreated it and my family loved the new recipe.

But then, it was around the time I was looking for healthier alternatives and Oats had become a staple in my pantry. I honestly don't relish the Oats porridge but then that is because I am not a person who can eat sweets for breakfast. So Oats found its way into many savory items in my kitchen and I really like the added texture it imparts to the instant Dosas. So I made certain changes to BIL's recipe - in goes the oats, I didn't replace the rava from the original recipe as it adds crunch. And since Zucchini takes to cooking better than regular cucumbers and also because I love the flavor of Zucchinis, I replaced cucumbers with these all purpose squashes.

As I said before, I don't yet have a full bounty kitchen garden but I got some good harvest done before the frost sets in. On that note everything around me is changing colors (I meant the nature) and I am falling in love once more with the beautiful Autumn. Does that happen to you? I loved the Summer very much and now I am starting to love the Autumn, not very faithful, huh :-). Anyways, before leaves change colors completely and fall off, there is still some Summer left in the late blooming Squashes and Zucchinis. I love Zucchinis for their flavor at the same time this vegetable has such a non-egoistic nature and blends into almost anything without making a fuss. So until the market starts to flood with Fall gourds of all shapes, sizes and colors, I am enjoying my Zucchinis.

I started Zucchini plants from seeds this year and as is the gardening norm, one plant grew and survived out of the many seeds I planted. While I was trying to decide if it was indeed a zucchini or a pumpkin looking at the bright yellow flower, one of the flowers quietly morphed itself into a bulb and kept growing longer and greener :-). Although it was not the Supermarket standard good looking, perfect dimensioned zucchini, our garden beauty was in no way inferior to those on the shelves in taste. We cut it this past weekend and there was unanimous voting for making the instant Paddus.

Paddu is called Guntapongalu in the Mysore region and Ponganalu in certain parts of Andhra Pradesh. I use the word 'Paddu' generically as we don't like tongue twisters in our multi language family :-). I make different kinds of paddus with different garnishes (see notes below for ideas) using different bases. Here is a delicious and completely healthy Paddu that can be made without any headache of soak/grind. Do not fret about the taste at all, and for those skeptics here is a testimony from my self declared 'Oats hater' FIL that he can give his mandatory rice a skip when these Paddus are on the menu :-). The first time I made after they landed here, I didn't tell him what was in it until the next day just to make sure I won't be hearing any 'my stomach is not all right today' as an excuse to eliminate the dreaded Oats from his diet.

What do you need to make Multigrain Zucchini Paddu? 
Makes about 30 Paddus
2 cups oats
1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup chiroti rava or super fine rava
1 Tblsp rice flour
1 Tsp basan/gram flour
2 cups packed zucchini gratings
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
1 Tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 green chili - chopped into small pieces
1/4 Tsp fresh ground black pepper powder
4-5 twigs of cilantro - finely chopped
1/4 cup chanadal - soaked for 45 minutes in water
1X1 inch piece of ginger - peeled and finely chopped
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1-2 Tblsp oil to roast the paddus

How do you make Multigrain Zucchini Paddu? 

• Run the oats in your blender and make a fine powder of it. 
• Take a wide bowl, add all the ingredients listed above except for the baking soda and oil. Mix into a soft batter. 
• If you are making the Paddus immediately, add the baking soda and mix it in. Do not leave the batter for more than an hour after mixing the baking soda as it tends to collapse the Paddus into soft balls. 

• Heat your Paddu pan/Ebelskiver pan on medium heat, drizzle drops of oil into the holes. 
• Drop a spoon of the batter into the holes, cover and cook for 2 minutes or until the bottom of the Paddu turns light brown. 

• Flip the Paddus over, drizzle drops of oil on top and let cook uncovered for another 2 minutes until the second side turns is cooked. 

• Server hot or warm with any chutney or sambar. We had ours with spicy maagaya pachadi.

Paddu Dressing up suggestions: 

• I usually add a 1/4 cup of small coconut pieces to the batter. 
• Make a seasoning with 1 Tsp oil, 1 Tsp mustard, a pinch of asafoetida, 1/4 Tsp red chili powder and pour it into the batter. 
• Add chopped curry leaves instead of cilantro for a different flavor. 

Notes:

• Go ahead and use regular cucumbers if you can get zucchini or if you like that taste, remember that is how I tasted this first and loved it. 
• I sometimes add a 1/4 cup of yogurt to make the batter lighter and also to give a tangy taste to the paddus. 
• Addition of baking soda makes for a lighter Paddu as you have 2 dense flours in this recipe (wheat flour and oats powder).
• You can increase/decrease or skip the garnishings above per your taste.
• Heat the Paddu pan before dropping the batter into it (if you spray a drop of water on the pan, it should sizzle to indicate the pan is ready)
• This batter is slightly gooey given that it has wheat flour and oats, the resulting paddus are softer unlike the traditional Dosa batter paddus.