Masala Zucchini

By: Manjula Jain

June 20, 2013

Serving : 3 people

Rate this recipe:

4.67 from 3 votes

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Masala Zucchini

Masala Zucchini has a nutty and spicy flavor. It's great as a side dish. For this recipe, I used a popular Bengali spice mixture known as punch poran. Punch poran is a blend of five spices which gives a very unique flavor to Zucchini.

Masala Zucchini

Ingredients

  • 2 zucchini large size with skin, sliced in 1/2 inch thick. This will make about 4 cups of sliced zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (Methi dana)
  • 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
  • 1/4 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
  • 2 whole red chilies
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
  • 1/2 teaspoon heaping salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions

  • Mix the first 5 spices to make Punch Poran cumin, fenugreek, mustard, fennel, and nigella seeds. Set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a flat sauce pan over medium high heat. When oil is moderately hot add the spice mix as cumin seeds and mustard seeds crack add whole red chili stir for few seconds. Add turmeric, red chili powder and salt stir and add zucchini.
  • Stir fry for about 1 minute lower the heat to low medium, and cover the pen. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes, doing this zucchini will leave the moisture that will help to stir fry them.
  • Remove the cover bring the heat to medium high and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Zucchini should be tender not mushy.
  • Add sugar, mango powder and lemon juice, stir and mix it well. Turn off the heat Masala  Zucchini is ready to serve.
  • Serve Masala Zucchini with roti, paratha or any bread. This also good with rice.

Notes

Notes
  1. First 5 spice mix cumin, fenugreek, mustard, fennel, and nigella seeds known as Punch Poran. You can make your own mix or buy the mix in Indian grocery store.
  2. This recipe works best with large and firm zucchini.
 
Variations
You can also use bottle gourd (in Hindi it is known as lauki, or ghia) but do peel the skin before slicing and slice them about the same size.
Masala Zucchini

Masala Zucchini

Masala Zucchini has a nutty and spicy flavor. It's great as a side dish. For this recipe, I used a popular Bengali spice mixture known as punch poran. Punch poran is a blend of five spices which gives a very unique flavor to Zucchini.
4.67 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course vegan
Cuisine Indian
Servings 3 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 zucchini large size with skin, sliced in 1/2 inch thick. This will make about 4 cups of sliced zucchini
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (Methi dana)
  • 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
  • 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds (saunf)
  • 1/4 teaspoon nigella seeds (kalonji)
  • 2 whole red chilies
  • 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
  • 1/2 teaspoon heaping salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon mango powder (amchoor)
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions
 

  • Mix the first 5 spices to make Punch Poran cumin, fenugreek, mustard, fennel, and nigella seeds. Set aside.
  • Heat the oil in a flat sauce pan over medium high heat. When oil is moderately hot add the spice mix as cumin seeds and mustard seeds crack add whole red chili stir for few seconds. Add turmeric, red chili powder and salt stir and add zucchini.
  • Stir fry for about 1 minute lower the heat to low medium, and cover the pen. Let it cook for about 2-3 minutes, doing this zucchini will leave the moisture that will help to stir fry them.
  • Remove the cover bring the heat to medium high and stir fry for about 3-4 minutes. Zucchini should be tender not mushy.
  • Add sugar, mango powder and lemon juice, stir and mix it well. Turn off the heat Masala  Zucchini is ready to serve.
  • Serve Masala Zucchini with roti, paratha or any bread. This also good with rice.

Notes

Notes
  1. First 5 spice mix cumin, fenugreek, mustard, fennel, and nigella seeds known as Punch Poran. You can make your own mix or buy the mix in Indian grocery store.
  2. This recipe works best with large and firm zucchini.
 
Variations
You can also use bottle gourd (in Hindi it is known as lauki, or ghia) but do peel the skin before slicing and slice them about the same size.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Comments

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    Coral
    March 17, 2018 at 5:01 am

    This was delicious and easy to make. It was a tasty side dish to my dal with just the slightest sweetness and tangy flavour.

    Jani
    November 18, 2017 at 4:47 pm

    Made this yesterday — very good!

    Sheetu
    June 27, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    Tried this recipe today and loved it. Its simple and delicious.

    Amita garg
    August 14, 2016 at 9:04 am

    I just cooked this recipe because I was tired of eating veg in tomato gravies and I had bottle gourd from the garden. I added potatoes. It is delicious and simple!

    Roberto
    June 20, 2016 at 4:55 am

    I loved this recipe (just like everything on this website).
    Being Italian and fond of pasta, I attempted a variation and I served it with penne, which I stir-fried in the pan with the zucchini at the final stage 🙂

      Manjula Jain
      June 20, 2016 at 9:57 pm

      Roberto, thank you, and yes good idea I will also try

    Aneesha
    March 15, 2016 at 1:56 am

    Unfortunately, I didnt like this one much. A bit bitter for my taste buds. I didnt have sesame seeds, rest I followed the recipe through.

    I feel It could have been just me but the taste wasnt for me. Although, Most of the recipes that I have tried from this website are so simple to make and taste great

      Manjula Jain
      March 15, 2016 at 5:59 pm

      Aneesha, it is fine we all have our own liking, but thank you for your input

    Tina
    September 15, 2014 at 7:00 am

    Glad I tried this recipe. To suit our taste I added a bit more salt and used one red chilli to cut down on the heat/spiceness. I had bought the packet of Panchporan mix and was on the look out for a recipe to use it in. I used 1.5 tsps of the mix to equal the measurements of the individual ingredients in your recipe. The result was perfect. Thanks for your accurate measurements and precise instructions. By the way, your new look complements you well.

    Hashim
    March 18, 2014 at 3:49 am

    Good recipe! enjoyed it with plain rice today and really loved it. While cooking at first I thought I’ll need to add water before letting it cook but to my surprise zucchini itself exude quite a lot of water, enough to cook in it.

    matt nannery
    January 6, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    This is delicious, Manjula. So crisp and citrusy. It’s nice to eat things that aren’t cooked to death!

    matt nannery
    January 6, 2014 at 7:44 am

    manjula, you don’t use onions because you’re jain right?
    would using onions make the recipes inauthentic if we non-jains used them?

    sonia77
    July 3, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    I thought you never use any onion or garlic in any of your recipes, but you are using “Kalonji” for this recipe which is onion seeds.

      Manjula Jain
      July 3, 2013 at 3:13 pm

      sonia77,
      Kalonji is not a onion seed Google to find out more about it

    swann2b
    June 23, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    I just made this ! It was delicious and spicy. I made the mistake of not watching the video first and just made it by the written recipe. So I didn’t half then slice the zucchini and used a wok. I also scorched my Panch Poran ! 🙁 It was still so good and now I will remember to watch the video too before cooking. Thanks for the tasty recipe Aunty !

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