Zucchini Fritter-Dumplings

In general, summer means fun.

Australian summer tend to be hot, so pool parties abound during the day snd early evening, with backyard barberques and dinner parties in the evening.

Or, this could take the form of a game night, whether that's board games, D & D, or watching the Sport of Choice, or just informal hanging out with friends. Everyone brings something, plates are optional, and finger foods are the norm, supplemented with salads, dips and maybe soething that requires disposable paper plates.

Over Easter, I was introduced to Zucchini Fritter-Dumplings at a week-long event in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. Rhys made them as a side dish, practically an afterthought to the main dinner course (Roast Piglet and Apple Sauce), and was promptly bombarded with requests for the recipe.

While the original recipe calls for just Zucchini, you can add pretty much any grated vegetable you like. Heck, you can even grab a Thai Rainbow Salad mix from the supermarket and use that, if you're feeling particularly unmotivated!

(Mum loved that version as a Mother's Day gift, since I couldn't afford my usual spa voucher.)

Ingredients

1 zucchini, grated

1 onion, finely diced

Celery Salt

1 egg, lightly beated

1 cup self-raising flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Other grated vegetables (optional)

Method

1. Grate your vegetables into a large bowl
2. Pour oil into a large pot and set to medium-high heat
3. Mix zucchini, celery salt, onion, other vegetables, lightly beaten egg and salt and pepper together
4. Gradually add self-raising flour until the mix forms a slightly sticky dough
5. Line a tray with paper towelling
6. Using a spoon, drop blobs of dough into the hot oil
7. Allow the fritter-dumplings to fry for 4 to 6 minutes until light brown, turning halfway
8. Using a slotted spoon, turn the fritters out onto the paper towelling to drain
9. Repeat until all the batter is gone

Notes

Resist snacking or nibbling. I ate half my batch before I finished cooking the other half!

If the dough is too dry or too sticky, just keep adding egg and flour until you get the desired consistency.

You can deep fry or pan fry, to your preference. I tend to deep fry, because it takes less effort on my part, and medium cooking pots don't require me to play Master-Level Tetris in the dishwasher the way the majority of my frying pans do.

Leek or shallots can be used instead of onion, if you aren't a fan of the stronger flavour of onion. Or if you just enjoy being able to see out of your own eyes without feeling like someone unloaded a can of pepper spray directly to your retinas...

Can you tell that Onions and I have an "It's Complicated..." relationship status? If I can't find pre-diced onion at the supermarket I'll substitute something else, purely so that I don't have to deal with chopping them personally.

Serving Suggestions

Serve the zucchini fritter-dumplings hot with dip or unsweetened greek yogurt or sour cream or hummus, to your preference.

Zucchini fritters can be eaten cold up to several days later, but they lose their crunchiness.

This isn't always a bad thing, particularly if I'm having a Sensory Day, but not everyone is a fan of soft fritters.

For other simple and tasty meals, check out the links above, or go to my profile and check out my contributions to the 'Feast' Community.

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