Zucchini Masala Vada Recipe | Zucchini Masala Vadai | How to make Zucchini Masala Vada

Zucchini Masala Vada is a spicy traditional vada made with Zucchini or Summer Squash along with chana dal and other added ingredients. This recipe was in my draft for months & finally today I was able to press the publish button for this dish. As mentioned I made them long back ago for a magazine. My mom was visiting us in USA & she helped me in making this dish. 

This deep-fried masala vada's are so delectable that you can never stop from munching on more of these. For a healthy version you can shallow fry or pan fry to enjoy them without any guilt. We enjoyed these masala vada's a lot & I hope you would too. 

You can accompany these Zucchini masala vada's along with a cup of your favorite drink for a relaxed evening.

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Masala Vada {Baked}
Onion Samosa

Prep Time - 2hr 30mins 

Cook Time-15mins

Serves – 3 to 4 people

Ingredients

1Zucchini

3/4Cup chana dal

1/2Cup finely chopped onions

4Garlic cloves

1Tbs grated ginger

5Green chili’s

1/2Cup finely chopped mint

Salt to taste

Oil for deep-frying

Directions

- Soak chana dal for minimum of 2hrs.

- Grate Zucchini & add a pinch of salt to it. Leave for 10mins. Use a cheesecloth to squeeze out extra water & keep aside.

- Grind garlic, ginger & green chili’s. To that add chana dal & mint. Coarse grind the mixture.

- Transfer it to a bowl along with salt & onions. Mix them well.

- Heat oil for deep-frying. Take a scoop of dal mixture & make a patty out of it.

- Drop it slowly into oil & add in another few patties to oil. Don't over crowd the pan. Fry them crisp on both sides. 
- Place them on to a kitchen towel to remove extra oil out of them. Repeat the same with rest of the dal mixture.

- Serve them with ketchup or with your favorite chutney.
Note

- You can shallow fry or pan fry theses vada’s. They may not be as crisp as deep-fried one’s but tastes awesome & sure are healthy.

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Strawberry Pancakes

Breakfast is an important meal of the day. It should be healthy & should be satisfying your appetite. The recipe I'm sharing is a vegan version of pancakes here. You won't see any difference in texture & taste. They are simply awesome & will make you crave for more. 
Being a food explorer and a Ovo-Lacto Vegetarian by diet, it is not so hard as people assume. These days restaurants are offering few options in their menu for vegan & vegetarian enthusiasts too. As said me & my hubby we both are food explorers. I'm proud to say that we have covered almost all variety of cuisines near by. Without limiting ourselves to that we plan to visit Las Vegas almost every year & love to enjoy the fine dining experience offered by different resorts over there. So when I got an opportunity to experiment on a specialty menu designed by Chef Tal Ronnen exclusively for Wynn Resorts,Las Vegas I was totally jumping with joy. 

These pancakes were inspired by the above menu designed for vegan & vegetarian enthusiasts who visit restaurants at Wynn. I took "Peach Pancakes" dish & transformed it to Strawberry Pancakes with Strawberry compote.  
Enjoy making these pancakes as they are if you are a vegan or you can replace them with the dairy versions and can enjoy the dish.

Prep Time-10mins
Cook Time-15mins to 20mins
Serves-8-10 pancakes
Ingredients 
1Cup all-purpose flour
1/4Cup steel cut oats
1Tbs baking powder
3Tbs brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1Cup + 1/4Cup coconut milk / non-fat milk
1Tsp vanilla extract
2Tbs peanut oil / butter
Peanut oil to make pancakes
For layering
2Ripe bananas sliced
Maple syrup /honey of your choice
Dollop of butter {optional}
Strawberry Compote
1Cup chopped fresh or frozen strawberries
3Tbs brown sugar
1Tsp lemon juice
Directions 
Strawberry Compote 
- In a pan take strawberries, sugar & lemon juice. Place it on stove & cook for 30mins or till the compote comes together. In between cooking mash the fruit with a ladle to make a smooth compote.
Making Batter
- In a bowl sift flour & baking powder. Add in steel cut oats along with sugar & salt. Mix them with a spoon.
- In a small bowl coconut milk, vanilla extract & oil. Mix them together.
- Now add wet ingredients to the dry ones & fold together. Allow the batter to sit for 10mins to 15mins.
- Heat a pan with peanut oil. Add a ladle full of batter to pan. The batter will slowly spread a little.
- Cook till the one side comes to light brown & fill it to other side. Cook for 2mins or less.
- Remove the pancake from pan & repeat the same with rest of the batter.
- Layer it up as you like or you can try the below way of layering it.
- Enjoy the healthy breakfast.
Note
- You can replace all non-dairy products with dairy products. 
- I used very less of syrup while serving it. Indulge in as much as you want.
- You can replace strawberry's in compote with your choice fruits. 

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Mixed Fruit Yogurt Parfait

Parfait is one of my favorite desserts & it tastes delicious to me when made with yogurt. It gives me a satisfaction of eating healthy when I make it with yogurt rather than cream. I love pairing yogurt with different fruits & enjoy the goodness of them. Specifically the non-fat yogurt's are little sour in taste, will pair perfectly with fruits that are sweet. 
The mixed fruit parfait I'm sharing consists of simple ingredients like fruits, almonds, honey & Chobani non-fat greek yogurt. You can use any fruit in making this dessert or can go with your seasonal favorite fruit & enjoy it. 

Prep Time-10mins
Serves-2People
Ingredients
1Cup Chobani non-fat greek yogurt whisked to smooth consistency
1Whole tangerine / mandarin orange skin peeled & sliced to bite size pieces
1/2Cup pomegranate seeds
2Tbs honey 
2Tbs sliced almonds  
Arranging Parfait 
- In a bowl add a spoon full of yogurt. 
- Top it with oranges & little honey. 
- Layer it with yogurt & top it with pomegranate seeds. 
- Again layer it with yogurt & top with almonds. Drizzle some honey on top. 
- Parfait is ready to eat.
Note
- You can arrange the layers, as you like. 
- If needed chill before serving.

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Lemon Buttermilk | Nimmakaya Majjiga

Summers are hot, sweaty & sometimes very dry in India. A refreshing drink that can make you feel good is all you need sometimes. Here is a drink for those hot hot summer days, which is also a favorite drink from my childhood days. This was served in our school to students as the summer starts. Sometimes it use to be accompanied with boiled broken wheat which is not refined. The combination use to be awesome.
Coming to this drink lemony buttermilk, onions, & lemon juice are the good cooling agents for the body. So this drink is best for the hot summer days as it cools your body & keeps you happy. 
Enjoy this refreshing drink!!!

Prep Time-10mins
Sitting Time-30mins
Serves-2People
Ingredients
1Cup thick curd
1Cup water {Adjust as needed}
2Tbs finely chopped onions
Few curry leaves finely chopped
1&1/2Tsp lemon juice {Adjust as needed}
Salt to taste
Directions 
- In a bowl mix curd & water. It comes to a smooth liquid consistency.
- Add in chopped onion, lemon juice & salt. Mix them & adjust salt if needed.
- Crush the chopped curry leaves using your hands & add to the buttermilk mix.
- Allow it to sit in refrigerator for 30mins to mingle the flavors well.
- Serve it chilled.
Note
- If the curd you are using is little watery then adjust water accordingly.
- Instead of curd you can use 2cups buttermilk & add little water if needed..

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