Recipe: Fragrant Onion and Zucchini Fritters (India)

Julie Sahni ("Classic Indian Cooking" and Indian Cooking School chef) uses chickpea flour in a whole bunch of vegetable fritters. I'll copy my favorite one for you but I recommend her cookbook if you want to pursue Indian cooking further.

So now here's one of her fritter recipes using chickpea flour:

Fragrant Onion and Zucchini Fritters

4 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 small zucchini, grated
1 cup (lightly packed) cilantro leaves and tender stems
1/4 cup yogurt
1 cup chickpea flour
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon baking powder
Coarse salt to taste
Peanut or corn oil for frying

Heat 2" of oil in a deep fryer (or wok) to 375 F.

Put the remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix until the vegetables are evenly coated. Gently drop the batter mixture, in 2-Tbsp amounts, into the oil. Make only a few at a time so there is ample room for them to float easily in the oil. Fry fritters, turning until they are golden brown all over. This will take 8-10 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately, or make ahead and refrigerate for up to a day or freeze. Defrost before refrying. Reheat fritters in hot oil for 30 seconds or reheat still frozen fritters in 375 F oven for 10 minutes.

There's another batter she makes with chickpea flour in which she dips thin slices of potatoes and eggplants. These are so good! She says you can use all-purpose flour instead of chickpea... which tells me you can probably go the other way and use the chickpea flour in place of regular flour in your favorite fritter recipe. For this purpose, taste and texture may differ but that's the whole point of trying different foods. I hope you enjoy experimenting with it!