Dear friends, Some of us do not have ready access to Indian vegetables. In such situations we have to try and use locally availible produce to make indian dishes. I would like this thread to discuss innovative ways we can use locally available produce to make indian dishes. I would like to start with the zucchini, Dishes I have made with Zucchini . Thuviyal (comes out very well) . Pulao . dry curry . dal . kootu Other dishes I would like to try and use zucchini . halwa . kofta . handvoh Looking for innovative ideas from other ILites.
You can use Squash for making Raita. And you can subsitute Squash in place of cucumber. I just made Squash Raita and ate it too
Friends of mine use zucchini cooked soft as a base for the gravy of dal dishes (like chickpeas). They puree with a stick blender...comes out well. Zucchini cooks down really wet and soft so I would think that doing some soup type thing would be good. Slice your zucchinis (3 or 4) and also one big red sweet onion. In a dutch oven (big pot) put some oil and layer the onion first, then zucchini, salt that layer, more onion, etc. Cook on low until it gets soft. I would then add tomatoes per taste and maybe rasam (?) masala or other masala. Just a thought. To me zucchini is more a summer vegetable as its so low in calories and light. Americans use it a lot for zucchini bread, cake or cookies (grated). You can add this grated zucchini to baked goods to make them moist....
Hi BeeAmma, even i have tried kootu,dhall with zuchini.could you please tell me how to make handvoh and how will it taste? You can also use celery to make kootu and dry curry with coconut.This one will taste like banana stem(vazhaithandu curry).i have also made asparagus curry and it goes well as a side dish for rotis.you can also bake asparagus after tossing some olive oil,salt and pepper.It will taste like boiled peanuts. pavi
