Courgette Bhaji, Nasturtium, and Chilli by The Small Holding

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Courgette Bhaji, Nasturtium, and Chilli

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Courgette Bhaji, Nasturtium, and Chilli

British

Starter

1 hour

Vegetables/vegetarian

Medium

Serves

This summery dish beautifully balances the delicate flavour or courgette with some punchy spices and chilli oil. As chef Will Devlin notes, it's a favourite dish on the menu of his restaurant, The Small Holding: "We serve this courgette bhaji in the height of summer as part of a dish with different courgette treatments including roasted and puréed. The finished plate is dressed with chilli oil and nasturtium leaves and flowers. Grace Dent described these crispy little bites as a ‘magical mouthful’ and the highpoint of her lunch for her review in the Guardian."

Recipe courtesy of

Ingredients

Courgette Bhajis

4 medium courgettes
170g gram flour
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin seeds
15g salt
80ml sparkling water
1 litre of sunflower oil to fry

Courgette sauce

Reserved courgette peelings
Salt
Butter, for frying
Rapeseed oil, for frying

Roasted courgette

1 medium courgette
Chilli oil
Salt

Method

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Method

To make the bhaji, peel, grate and salt four of the courgettes, reserving the peelings for the courgette sauce. Set the grated courgettes aside until they release some liquid, then place in a clean cloth and squeeze out any excess liquid.
Mix the grated courgette with all of the other ingredients, except the sunflower oil, to form a batter.
Heat the sunflower oil to 175°C.
Make a courgette sauce by sautéing the peelings hard and fast in a little rapeseed oil and butter with the lid on to create steam. When just tender and still hot, whiz in a blender and season to taste.
Slice the remaining courgette into thick rounds, season with salt and brush with a little chilli oil. Roast in a hot, dry pan until soft and just charred.
Using a tablespoon, scoop a spoonful of the courgette mixture into the hot oil and fry for a minute or so on each side until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
Serve the bhajis hot with a spoonful of courgette purée, pieces of roasted courgette and dress with chilli oil and nasturtium leaves and flowers.