Indian spiced Zucchini fritters

At Publix this morning, my husband saw Zucchini fritters in the frozen section. At $4, he refused to buy the small portion offered. I told him I would try to figure out a recipe. At home I discovered a couple of recipes that used Parmesan and garlic as the main flavorings and thought, "Boring!" We had a wonderful Indian buffet in Decatur last week and I remembered the Pakoras we had. I found a couple of Pakora recipes for inspiration then perused my pantry for other spices. I came up with this on the spot. First time success. Tasty.

Indian spiced Zucchini fritters

Sprinkle 3-4 medium zucchini (grated large) with 1 TSP Salt. Stir well.

Allow to sit 5 minutes then squeeze the extra liquid from the mix.

Stir together 3/4 cup all purpose flour with
1/2 TSP ground Cumin
1 TSP ground Turmeric
1 TSP ground Coriander
1/4-1/2 TSP ground Cayenne
1/2 TSP Chili Powder (not smoked)
1 TSP Punjabi Chole Masala powder: recipe at http://www.indiankhana.net/2013/03/punjabi-chole-masala-powder-recipe.html
PLUS
a good sprinkling of salt and black pepper.
Set aside dry ingredients.

Squeeze the water from the zucchini. Grate one medium carrot (small grate). Chop 1-3 little green onions (green and white parts). Mix zucchini, carrot, and onions together with one large egg.

Add dry ingredients to the mix and stir well.
At this point you may need to add 1/4 -1/2 cup of flour to absorb some of the excess moisture. The mix needs to be sticky enough to hold together, not too dry. I found that the ingredients became more moist between batches so I added a bit if flour to absorb the excess moisture before cooking each new batch.

Drop by heaping spoonfuls into a skillet with enough medium-hot oil to coat the pan. The type of oil you choose is based on how long you want to cook it for and the level of heat you can use. Press into flat patties no more than a 1/4 inch thick. Patience is required to cook to perfection. It's better to cook on a lower temperature, avoid burning, and avoiding a too-moist inside. My 2-3 inch patties, cooked in vegetable oil, took 5 minutes to cook on each side, at heat setting 4 of 10. THEN I added an extra 3-5 minutes to brown each side perfectly. Press flatter if insides don't appear to cook through.

Drain on paper towels to absorb extra oil. Drain twice with fresh paper. Serve hot.

When cooking the next batch, it is best to remove all the oil from the pan and start with fresh oil each time.