Vegan Zucchini Latkes

To me and I’m guessing to a lot of you Thanksgiving is sort of an unofficial start of the Holiday season. To me it means just one thing…lots of cooking. 🙂 I use every get together and potluck to get extra creative with my dishes. Side dishes are perfect to experiment and take risks. I love it, my family loves it, my guests love it; it’s a win-win no matter what! I love to experiment with cuisines from all sorts of countries and make them my own.

Potato latkes are traditionally served on Hanukkah but guess what? I’m serving this version of vegan zucchini latkes at my Thanksgiving dinner! Since there are lots of back to back Holiday dinners filled with sometimes really heavy, rich foods, I keep trying to squeeze in more veggie sides to balance them out. I love to take on this challenge and it gives me a chance to showcase a really bland veggie in a fantastic, flavorful and crispy form!

This recipe also takes care of the guests who happen to be vegan or vegetarian, and guests who are on a low carb diet. But you can be certain that everyone will love it! Traditionally latkes are served with sour cream or apple sauce. I personally like to serve them with Greek yogurt but it’s totally up to you! Try them this thanksgiving with the Cranberry sauce or some Cilantro-mint chutney or Sriracha sauce for a bit of a zing! If you think that’s too hot, add the Sriracha or the cilantro chutney to some plain Greek yogurt to tone it down. Let the Holiday festivities begin!

Ingredients:

Organic zucchini – 2 medium sized

Ground Flax – 1 Tbsp

Chickpea flour (besan) – 4 Tbsp

Panko crumbs – 2 Tbsp

Extra virgin olive oil – 2 tsp

Salt – 1 tsp(or according to taste)

Ground Black pepper – ¼ tsp (optional)

Red chili powder – 1/8 tsp (optional)

Plain Greek yogurt – for garnish (optional)

Sriracha sauce – optional

Directions:

Grate the zucchini without peeling it with either a hand grater or like I did in my food processor; and add ½ tsp of salt to it and keep on the side for 10-15 minutes while you measure and prep the rest of the stuff.

Add 2Tbsp water to the flax, mix well and keep on the side.
Add 4Tbsp water to the ground chickpea flour (besan), mix it well and keep on the side.

Then taking a kitchen towel, squeeze the zucchini in it tightly to get rid of all the moisture.

Then in a bowl add the squeezed out zucchini, the flax mix, the chickpea paste, and the dry seasonings and mix well. If the mix is way too dry, add 1-2 Tbsp of water. At the end add the panko crumbs.

Heat up a pan, and then add 1 tsp of olive oil.
Then using a cookie scoop add the batter to a hot pan the size of small pancakes, and spread it or flatten it a bit using the back of the cookie scoop.

Let it be for a few seconds till you start seeing the edges turn slightly brown; then flip them.
Both sides will be done within a couple of minutes max.