You Can Never Have Too Much Squash

It was Wallis Simpson who said, "You can never be too rich or too thin." She never did mention whether is was possible to have too much squash. My guess is that if she ever had her staff make squash bhajis for her, she would have appended "or too much squash" to her famous statement (and amended the "too thin" portion of it). But back then, there really wasn't much Indian food in England (my, how times have changed), so she probably never even tried a bhaji. Too bad for her – poor skinny rich girl.

A bhaji is essentially just a vegetable dipped in a chana dal (besan) flour batter and fried. (Chickpea flour would also work well, if that is easier for you to find.) I wrote about them back in February, and the formula remains the same regardless of choice of vegetable. My husband is the potato bhaji king, and even makes them for our six-year-old to snack on after school. She brings the extras to school in her lunch box the next day, with a little container of ketchup. Indian French fries!

This time of year, most people are drowning in squash, so I thought I'd just throw the bhaji idea out there. I made a cucumber yogurt sauce to accompany the bhajis. Just add peeled, grated cucumber to plain yogurt, stir, and salt to taste. I should note that in this batch I also did tomatoes and jalapenos. The tomatoes tasted good (and spattered in the oil a lot, so beware), but were a bit soggy. I think green tomatoes would work better. The jalapenos were delicious, but extremely spicy. If you do these, consume them with lots of yogurt sauce, and at your own risk.

Squash Bhajis
Slice squash (about three or four small ones) into rounds a little less than half an inch thick.

For the batter: *
Mix one cup chana dal flour (besan) with one teaspoon of salt, about 1/8 teaspoon of asafoetida, the desired amount of red chili powder. Add enough water to make the batter the consistency of pancake batter (it should cling to your vegetables). I used around 3/4 cup of water.

Frying the bhajis:
3. Heat about an inch of canola oil in a small saucepan or wok. Make sure the oil is good and hot before you fry the bhajis, or the batter will fall off the vegetables.

3. Dip a squash slice in the batter, drop gently into the oil, and fry until crisp and browned. Turn the bhaji to brown the other side if necessary. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon, drain the bhajis on paper towels, and serve fresh.

*You can use a little more or less asafoetida, or none at all. It gives a sulfurous, garlicky flavor which some people find a little strange at first. I happen to like it, but you definitely don't want to overdo it.