Almost everything about this dish is a surprise. Let us begin with the ingredients, the zucchinis we a result of the end of season garden clean up as we put the leaves away and get the soil into a state of rest for the next season. Despite not being on the gardening side of the production, sadness overcomes me as I realize that the endless source of fresh ingredients will take a pause as the soil rejuvinates itsself for the year to come.
Zucchini tastes like a cross between the green bottle gourd and the ridge gourd. It is low in calories and is rich in Vitamin A and lutien. The surprise element here is that these squashes are the harbinger of summer and usually fade by fall. Well, these babies were waiting right till the end to grace our table for the last zucchini dish of the year at least with garden produce.
To cook these, I used butter, red onion and just a hint of carom or actually later on loads of thyme. These thyme like seeds are common in the cuisine from the region of punjab and are cooked with squashes.
A note on the carom seeds, like a lot of core spices does have a strong taste which some people tend to find a bit much. It is considered to be good for the stomach and this recipe takes less than 15 minutes to put together and tastes quite amazing.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon carom seeds or 1 tablespoon minced thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 red onion, cut into a fine dice
- 1 to 2 small to medium zucchini, cut into small pieces
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
- Salt to taste
- Lime juice and chopped cilantro to finish
Instructions
- Heat the oil and butter on medium heat for about 1 minute.
- Add in the carom seeds or thyme and the cumin seeds and after 30 seconds add in the red onion.
- Saute lightly for about 4 minutes, until the onion is soft and transluscent and add in the zucchini and cook until nice and soft.
- Add in the turmeric, red chili powder and the salt and stir well.
- Cover and cook for 5 to 6 minutes until fairly soft.
- Remove the cover, stir in the lime juice and the chopped cilantro and mix well.
I am sending this out to Weekend Herb Blogging, an event started by Kalyn, now co-ordinated by Haalo and is at Ann’s blog, The Food Lovers Journey.
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