Zucchini Curry | Indian Courgette Curry

Zucchini Curry is a healthy & delicious Indian curried dish made with zucchini, peas, herbs and warm spices. It’s a simple & spicy dish but packs a punch when it comes to taste. If you’re looking for ways to add a zucchini dish to your menu or meal plans, this recipe is a good starting point. The dish is quite simple like this Zucchini Stir Fry but with profound Indian flavors.

Zucchini also known as Courgette is a summer squash. A lot of people get confused with zucchini and cucumber as they look similar. Both have high water content, but zucchini is one of those South American plants that now flourish across the globe.

A new entrant to Europe, Asia, and India, it has been enthusiastically adopted and added to regional dishes.

You‘ll find three varieties of this vitamin A and folate-rich vegetable. You have the regular dark green one. There is a light green variant in addition to the less common yellow zucchini that looks similar to yellow squash.

About Zucchini Curry

Zucchini curry as the name suggests, is a curried dish where chopped zucchini is simmered with onions, tomatoes and garam masala. This dish is not different from other Indian curries. But it is a mix of South Indian and North Indian styles.

You’ll find curry leaves and coconut milk (optional) for South cooking blending in with Northern spices & herbs like Garam masala and kasuri methi.

Tomatoes and onions provides the tang while the cumin & mustard seeds tempering provides the crunch. The ground spices add the much-needed flavor to balance out the bland tasting zucchini.

It is a fast-cooking dish & is ready to serve in 30 minutes or less. This curry travels well and makes a good lunchbox option.

My Recipe

Zucchini like other summer squash are bland tasting so I prefer to bring in natural sweet tones into the dish by adding some green peas. Also a basic tempering of curry leaves, cumin and mustard seeds infuse some warm flavors. However you are free to skip any of these ingredients in the tempering.

This is a vegan dish and complements all your mains from chapatis to cooked grains. Another of those versatile recipes, this curry works well with the use of other vegetables, especially bell peppers, baby spinach and even broccoli.

On Occasions I prefer to use coconut milk to transform this zucchini curry into a creamy gravy that we usually ladle over cooked rice, quinoa or millets.

So, go ahead and turn your boring courgette salad into a steaming hot curry. And, yes, this curry stores well for 2 days.

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Zucchini stir fry
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How to make Zucchini Curry (Stepwise photos)

Prepare Zucchini

1. For this recipe, you will need 250 grams (about half pound) Zucchini. Sometimes zucchini, just like cucumbers taste bitter due to toxic cucurbitacins. The most effective way to remove the bitterness from the veggie is to cut off the ends of the zucchini (¾ inch slice). Rub it for a few minutes against the other part until a white froth like substance comes out. Repeat this on the other end as well.

2. Rinse well and taste it. If you still feel bitter, then you may slightly scrape the skin. After all this if you still taste it bitter, then it is good to discard it.

I prefer to keep the skin. If you don’t like then you may peel and then cube them. But the curry turns completely mushy.

Make Zucchini Curry

3. Heat 1½ tablespoons oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add 1 pinch mustard (optional) and ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.

4. When the seeds begin to crackle, add 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 chopped green chili and 1 sprig curry leaves. If you do not have curry leaves & green chilies, you may skip them. You can replace ginger with garlic. Saute them until a nice smell comes out for about a minute.

5. Then add 1 cup fine chopped onions and saute until they turn transparent.

6. Stir in ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric, ¾ teaspoon red chilli powder and ¾ teaspoon garam masala. Saute for a minute.

7. Add 1 cup chopped tomatoes or ¾ cup tomato puree.

8. Add chopped zucchini.

9. Saute them for 2 to 3 mins on a medium heat until the veggies begin to sweat.

10. Cover and cook on the lowest heat until tomatoes breakdown completely and zucchini turns slightly tender.

Note: Adjust the cook time to suit your taste. I prefer cooking them slightly softer but not mushy otherwise zucchini tastes very bland and will not absorb the flavors.

11. Add ½ cup green peas and 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (optional). If you have, do add fenugreek it adds a lot of flavor here.

12. I prefer to cover and cook for another 1 to 2 mins. If you don’t like very soft zucchini, stir fry after adding peas instead of covering the pan. Taste test and add more salt & garam masala if needed. For extra heat you may add some crushed black pepper. Sprinkle coriander leaves.

You can stir in ¼ to ½ cup coconut milk for gravy. Let the coconut milk become warm. Turn off the heat.

Serve Zucchini curry with rice, roti or even with bread.

Pro Tips

• Always use small and fresh zucchini for best flavor, and to avoid the bitterness.
• When cooking the zucchini, keep the skin on, otherwise the dish can turn mushy. If you prefer to peel the skin, stir fry for a shorter time instead of covering with the lid.
• To give the dish extra flavor, add the optional fenugreek leaves.
• Skip the green chili if you prefer a milder dish.

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