Squash Blossoms a delicacy

With the arrival of summer squash comes the dainty beautiful yellow orange flower of the vegetable. I didn't know that these flowers are edible till my niece made a dish out of those.  These bright orange  flowers are available only in the farmer's markets or specialty stores.  The best ones can come from your kitchen garden.  These blossoms have a very short shelf life.  They are so soft and perishable that they can last only for a day even in the refrigerator.  They are available only from July to September.

It is true that squash blossoms can be used for garnishing the salads and soups but to turn these into a gourmet dish would require stuffing them with some soft cheese and frying them.  My niece, the culinary expert stuffed it with ricotta cheese and thyme combination and fried them.  When she invited us over to have a squash blossom,  my sister asked for ketchup.  Her response was: "Mom, this is a delicacy and you are supposed to eat them like that in order to enjoy the true flavor of the blossoms."

The squash blossoms are not just pretty looking, they are high in calcium and iron and especially high in vitamins C and A.  They are excellent for dieters as one cup of squash blossom has merely five calories, unless you are stuffing and frying them.

Ingredients:

16-20 squash blossoms, 3/4 cup white flour, 1 cup beer, salt to taste , oil for frying.

Ingredients for filling:

2 liters of milk, 2 tbsp of lemon juice, 1 small onion chopped finely, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp lemon pepper, 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

In a big pan put milk to boil.  When it reaches boiling point, add lemon juice to curdle the milk.  Strain the curdled milk through a muslin cloth to allow all the whey and moisture to drain.  Hang it on the kitchen sink tap.  Once water drains completely(it may take two hours or so), take out of the cloth and mash it well with your fingers.  Heat one tbsp of oil, add cumin seeds.  When they tsp spluttering, add onion and sauté them till they turn light pink.  Add mashed paneer(cheese), salt and lemon pepper and mix it well.  Keep aside so it cools off.

In the meanwhile make batter of white flour, beer and salt and mix it well.  Stuff the blossoms with the paneer mix by opening the petals gently.  Coat the stuffed ones in the batter mix.  Heat the oil to 325 degrees F and fry them until golden brown. Place the fried ones on the paper towel to drain the oil.  

Enjoy.