The courgette blossom or nuwwar al-koussa, is a little delicate flower that lightens up all markets across the Mediterranean basin. Its fantastic colours inspired all culinary cultures in the area. The Greeks, the Italians, the Turks have all cooked them.
In Palestine we cook them less, rushing after their fruit, the fantastic koussa for our mahashi (stuffed veggies). But we have the perfect drink to accompany them, arak and delicious soft baladi cheese to stuff them with.
What better than some cheese-oozing courgette flower beignets, a parsley tahini dip and a glass of arak for a small Sunday afternoon aperitif under the warm sun of Palestine?
Ingredients
For the batter
75 gm Flour
1 Egg
1 tsp Olive oil
10 cl Milk
1 pinch Salt
1 pinch Pepper
For the stuffing
Baladi Cheese
1 pinch Pepper
5 gm Sumac
For the tahini sauce
Tahini
1 bunch Parsley
Lemon juice
Method
For the batter
1. Mix the flour, the egg yolk, the milk, the olive oil, the salt and pepper.
2. Whisk the egg white until firm.
3. Incorporate the firm egg white into the mix.
For the stuffing
1. Crumble the baladi cheese between your fingers.
2. Mix the pepper and sumac into the cheese with a fork
3. Clean the courgette flowers, remove the pistil.
4. Stuff with the cheese mix.
For the sauce
1. Clean the parsley, keeping the leaves only
2. In a blender mix the tahini, the parsley leaves, the lemon juice.
3. Add a few drops of water until the sauce is creamy and smooth.
For the frying
1. Heat in a pan enough frying oil to cover the flowers.
2. Once the oil is very hot, dunk a stuffed flower into the dough covering all side.
3. Keep the flower over the dough mixture, allowing it to drop the excess dough.
4. Fry on one side (around two minutes) until golden, turn over for another one or two minutes.
5. Take out of the oil and let it drip the excess oil on some kitchen absorbent paper.
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