Baked Zucchini
&
Zucchini Paneer Curry
- Zucchini is a summer squash also known as 'Courgette'.
- It is a thin skinned vegetable which looks like cucumber usually golden yellow or green in color.
- It has a mild flavor slightly sweet and bitter.
- Referred as Marrow in Britain.
- Zucchini can be eaten raw in salads or cooked, grilled, sautéd, steamed and boiled.
- Zucchini bread and noodles are well known recipes. They can be cooked without peeling the skin.
- In France, Zucchini is a key ingredient in Ratatouille (stewed vegetable dish)
- Zucchini can be shaped into noodle like spirals and used as pasta.
- Baked zucchini is a quick side dish or appetizer for a perfect evening snack or lunch and dinner.
- Fresh Zucchini sprinkled with salt, chilli powder, oregano and topped with cheese and baked until zucchini becomes soft and slight brown in color.
- Zucchini paneer curry or zucchini cottage cheese curry is a dish prepared in Indian style cooking process which you can accomplish with fried rice jeera rice/cumin rice and flavored rice.
- Sautéd with tomato onion puree with tandoori masala to give twist of Indian style curry flavor to enhance the taste of Zucchinia
- Cuisine – Indian
- Recipe – Lunch/dinner
- Type – Appetizer/side dish
- Preparation time – 20 minutes
- Cooking and baking time – 30 minutes
- Total time – 50 minutes
- Serves – 4 to 5 persons
Baked Zucchini
Baked Zucchini
Ingredients
Zucchini – 100 gms
Capsicum -1 medium sized
Paneer
(Cottage cheese) – 100 gms
Cheese cubes – 50 gms
Oregano –
1 tsp
Peanut oil or Butter –
1 tsp
Salt –
As per taste
Chilli Powder – As per taste
Procedure
Step 1:
Cut zucchini into round slices, chop capsicum into thin vertical shape and cottage cheese/paneer into cubes.
Step 2:
Grease the baking tray with peanut oil/butter.
Step 3:
Place zucchini capsicum and panner into the tray.
Step 4:
Sprinkle salt and chilli powder over the veggies and paneer.
Step 5:
Sprinkle crushed oregano on zucchini paneer and capsicum.
you can substitute chilli powder with pepper powder.
Step 6:
Place the baking tray into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until zucchini becomes soft and slight brown in colour.
Step 7:
Remove from oven, top zucchini ,paneer and capsicum with cheese cubes.
Step 8:
Place the baking tray in the oven again and bake for five more minutes or until the cheese melts down.
Step 9:
Take out from the oven, enjoy the baked Zucchini paneer platter when its hot.
Zucchini Paneer Curry
Zucchini Paneer Curry
Ingredients
Zucchini –
100 gms
Paneer/cottage cheese
– 100 gms
Onion (chopped) –
1 cup
Onion tomato puree –
1 cup
Peanut oil – 1 tbsp
Ginger and garlic paste – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Tandoori masala –
1 tsp
Coriander leaves –
To garnish
Procedure
Step 1:
Take a flat Non- stick pan, heat the pan for few seconds, pour 1 tbsp of peanut oil, heat oil for few seconds.
Step 2:
Add chopped onions sauté them for 5 to 8 minutes until onions becomes transparent.
Step 3:
Add sliced zucchini, cook for 10 minutes until they become soft.
Step 4:
close the pan with lid while cooking zucchini and onion till they become soft.
Step 5:
Add 1 tsp of ginger and garlic paste mix altogether.
Step 6:
Add 1tsp of salt and chilli powder sauté for a minute and cook for five minutes.
Step 7:
Add 1 tsp of Tandoori masala, and mix well, you can also add garam masala and coriander powder to enhance taste of your choice.
Step 8:
Add diced paneer or cottage cheese cubes mix gently and slowly without breaking the paneer cubes, cook for five minutes in a low flame.
Step 9:
Slowly add onion tomato puree into the zucchini paneer curry mix gently, avoid breaking of zucchini and paneer while mixing.
Step 10:
Add 1 cup of water into the curry preparation or as per your gravy consistency ,cook for five more minutes until it becomes semi thick in consistency.
Step 11:
Dish out in a serving bowl, garnish with fresh coriander leaves (optional).
Step 12:
Serve hot with jeera rice/cumin rice or with flavoured rice.
Tips/Instructions
- Pick fresh and tender zucchini.
- This can be prepared with yellow or green zucchini or mix of both
- Peanut oil can be substituted with butter/clarified butter.
- Preheating oven before baking is not required.
- Zucchini should be baked completely before topping them with cheese cubes.
- Zucchini curry should be cooked in a medium flame.
- While cooking, cover the pan with lid.
- Zucchini is rich in vitamins minerals and other beneficial plant compounds.
- Cooked zucchini is high in vitamin A while raw zucchini contains less.
- High in Antioxidants which helps to protect body.
- Consuming zucchini helps to improve eye and skin disorders.
- Promotes healthy digestion by reducing your risk of constipation helps in gut disorders.
- Rich in water potassium and soluble /insoluble fibre and thyroid.
- Reduces blood sugar levels and helps in type 2 diabetics.
- Improves heart health helps to reduce high blood pressure and lowers the risk of Age related eye conditions.
- Low in calories helps to reduce weight loss and thyroid.
