I was invited to the Harvest Festival at The Eden Project to talk to people about Baobab and take up the challenge to create some recipes. This was my savoury offering which worked really well. The baobab powder brought out the citrus of the lemon and gave the bhajias a light tang.
Courgette and Baobab Bhajias
You’ll need
- 300g courgettes or thereabouts – does not need to be exact
- 1-2 cups chickpea flour – also known as gram flour
- 1-2 cups plain thick yoghurt
- 1 bunch fresh coriander – coarsely chopped
- 2-3tsp chilli powder to your taste
- 2 tsp salt – table salt is preferable
- 2-3 tsp cumin and coriander powder
- Juice of half a lemon
- 1 Baobab sachet
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
- Tap water
To make them
- Grate your courgettes into a large mixing bowl and then add all the other ingredients so you have a thick batter.
- Check for seasoning and adjust the chilli and salt to your taste.
- Heat the oil so that you can comfortably hold your hand above it without it feeling hot. Sounds odd but this is how my mother taught me to check it and it always works.
- Drop spoonfuls of the batter into the hot oil carefully to avoid spitting.
- Fry til golden brown.
- Serve hot dipped in fresh yoghurt or creme fraiche or you could made a simple chutney using some finely chopped tomatoes and onions with a dollop of Baobab jam.