This summer’s zucchini harvest started out so promisingly.

The leaves of my 3 zucchini plants grew to monstrous sizes. The largest plant produced what was probably the most perfectly shaped and tastiest zucchini I had ever grown.

I quickly overcome a squash vine borer problem by carefully monitoring the plants every day and, in an emergency operation, cutting out the 2 small borers I found inside one of the plant’s stems and then injecting the stem with Bacillus Thuringiensis (bt, used in organic farming) to kill any others I might have missed. When powdery mildew struck, I applied neem oil diligently every week. I created better air flow and eliminated the possibility of rot undermining my plants by staking them to keep them off the ground, trimming all of the leaves that were growing underneath the budding squash.

And yet – after that first perfect zucchini, I found that my remaining squash failed to develop, turning yellow on the vine and falling off before maturing. Only much later did I realize that the female stems (the ones that produce the zucchinis) were suffering from a lack of pollinators in my garden and I should have been hand-pollinating them to produce healthy females. Last week came the death knell: a series of heavy thunderstorms killed two of my plants. On the other hand, the runt of the bunch is now happily taking over the raised bed – with its (so far) all-male stems.

I am sorry to say that growing squash remains a challenge for me: a frustrating, aggravating, time-consuming challenge.

The one silver lining (aside from the remaining thriving plant that, given some time, might still produce a zucchini or two before the cold weather sets in) has been the blossoms, which grew in absolute abundance this year. One other silver lining is that picking blossoms on a regular basis stimulates the plant to produce more blossoms and – eventually – more females. So while I waited in vain for the growth of that second perfect zucchini, I enjoyed the bounty of the squash blossoms. They have become one of my favorite breakfast menu items. Below is the recipe I use to fry them.

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Tools and/or vessels needed: frying pan

Ingredients:

6-10 squash blossoms (blossoms should be bright yellow and at least partially open)

1¼ cup oil (I used peanut oil)

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup + 1 tbsp (very) cold water

¼ tsp coriander powder

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Process:

1. Mix all ingredients except squash blossoms in a small bowl. Use a whish or fork to create a smooth batter with no lumps. Batter should be a little thick, not runny.

2. Heat oil in frying pan or saucepan.

3. Split blossom down one side with your fingers.

4. Remove green calyx and pistil (from female blossom) or stamen (from male blossom).

5. Rinse thoroughly and set on paper towel to dry.

6. When oil is hot (e.g. a drop of water sizzles instantly in it), dredge a squash blossom in the batter and make sure it is covered in batter on both sides.

7. Drop the squash blossom in the oil, taking care to spread out the flower as flat as possible

8. Fry thoroughly on both sides and place on paper towel to drain excess oil

9. Cool and enjoy!

After trying a number of dips (sweet tamarind sauce, garlic mayo, soy sauce, ginger soy sauce) with these fried squash blossoms, I decided that they tasted better without any sauce.

They also taste best when eaten soon after frying. Although they’ll get soggy if you leave them out for a while, they’ll become crispy again after reheating in the oven.

FYI: this batter also works very well for fried green tomatos!

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