One of the most common Indian Zucchini recipes is the zucchini curry or Zucchini sabzi. A healthy delicious quick and easy zucchini stir fry, spiced with cumin and turmeric. Ready in under 15 minutes, this vegan zucchini recipe is a must-try.
If you enjoy Indian vegetarian recipes, like cabbage sabzi, capsicum curry, potato curry, cauliflower sabzi, tofu leek sabzi, etc., this Indian veggie recipe will certainly excite you.
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Why should you try zucchini curry?
- Indian zucchini curry is an easy, quick, and approachable recipe. This recipe requires simple ingredients that might already be there in your Indian pantry.
- It is a weekday dinner recipe, ready in under 15 minutes.
- No fancy equipment is required to make a zucchini recipe. It is a One-pot recipe. You can also use the instant pot to make it.
- Vegan. Like many Indian recipes, this one is an inherently vegan zucchini recipe.
- Gluten-free recipe. If you have a gluten allergy, this Indian-style zucchini recipe deserves to be part of your recipe arsenal. You can add some gravy in form of coconut cream or yogurt and enjoy this with steamed rice.
- On top of all these things, this is a super healthy and delicious recipe.
🥘 Ingredients required for making zucchini curry
Zucchini Squash
You can use whichever type of zucchini is available to you. You can use baby zucchini or large zucchini, golden or round, anything will work just fine. Just wash them under running water and dry them with a kitchen towel. Then slice them into cubes.
Red Onion
I used half a large red onion. If you have a medium-sized onion, use the whole onion. The key is to chop it very finely. The onion will sweat and melt into the curry on cooking. It gives flavor and body to the sauce/ masala of the sabji (curry).
Red onion or shallots works best for Indian curry recipes, and this zucchini recipe is no exception. But if you cannot find them in your grocery store, go for yellow onions.
Ginger and garlic
Ginger and garlic are the base flavoring for our zucchini curry recipe. I like to mince the garlic and grate the ginger. I use fresh flavors in my recipes, but you can go for store-bought ginger garlic paste. Many people make ginger garlic paste at home. Use whatever you like.
Tomato Paste
Please do not replace tomato paste with tomato puree. You will need to increase the amount if you use tomato puree or canned diced tomatoes. Tomato paste is denser and more concentrated. Two tablespoons give enough richness to your curry. To replace it, you can use:
- 3 Ripe medium-sized tomatoes (diced)
- 1 cup of canned diced tomato
- 1 cup tomato puree
Vegetable oil
Stick to the vegetable oil of your choice. You can use avocado oil or canola oil.
Spices
- Cumin seeds. 2 teaspoons of cumin seeds are a must in the curry recipe. If you do not have it, just omit it and replace it with cumin powder. Add cumin powder with the chopped herbs when the curry is ready. If you do not have any of this, replace one teaspoon of cumin seeds with black mustard seeds or curry leaves.
- Coriander powder. The dry coriander seeds are ground into powdered form. I like to grind them at home and store them in an airtight container.
- Garam masala is a mix of spices that is very generic in Indian dishes. You can use the store-bought or homemade mix of dry spices here. Another substitute for garam masala is curry powder.
- Turmeric. No curry is possible without turmeric powder.
- Salt and red chili powder. Adjust them according to your taste and preferences.
🔪 How to make zucchini curry recipe
Step 1 Prep the ingredients
Start by washing the zucchini. Pat dry and chop into cubes. And set it aside
Chop the onion finely, mince garlic, and grated ginger. Pull out all the spices and keep them at a hand's distance. While preparing zucchini curry, you must be quick with adding the dry spices. They are sheer powders and burn very quickly. Also, keep a glass of water close.
Step 2 Preparing masala for zucchini curry
In a skillet heat oil. And add cumin seeds. When the seeds start to sizzle add chopped onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté them at medium heat. When they turn golden reduce the heat to low. Start by adding turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Give them a quick stir and add 2-3 tablespoons of water. Let the spices cook for a minute and then add tomato paste. Stir and cook the tomato paste for 2 minutes.
When the masala starts to leave oil, it is ready for the zucchini.
Step 3 Adding and cooking zucchini
Add the chopped zucchini and then use a ladle to gently coat the zucchini with the masala. Now cover the skillet and let the zucchini curry cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes. Adjust the cooking time depending on how you like your zucchini. If you want the zucchini curry to be crunchy, just cook enough to get rid of the rawness and turn off the flame when the zucchini leaves are still crunchy. But if you like buttery tender zucchini, cook slightly longer. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves, green chili, and a dash of lime.
Serve hot with roti or naan.
How to make zucchini curry in Instant pot
To make this recipe in an instant pot also. Just use the sauté mode at medium heat for 15 minutes and follow the recipe as such from above.
How to serve Zucchini Curry?
This zucchini curry recipe makes a great dinner as well as a lunch meal. Serve it alongside flatbreads like naan, pita bread, roti, or paratha. Alongside serve some salad and raita. And there, you have a delicious Indian meal at your disposal.
Other variations of zucchini curry
Wondering how else we Indians enjoy our zucchini? The other Indian recipes with zucchini that you can enjoy are as follows.
- Mushy Pakistani Zucchini ( courgette) curry. It is more of a kaddu ki sabzi-like variation. The zucchini needs to be cooked till a point that it becomes mushy. Then grab a potato masher to mash the zucchini.
- Zucchini curry with coconut milk. This is more of a south Indian-inspired recipe for zucchini curry where coconut milk is added to give it some gravy base.
- Zucchini poriyal. It is a south Indian zucchini curry (Andhra style), where mustard seeds are used instead of cumin seeds and freshly grated coconut shreds are added to the curry.
🫙 Storage notes
Refrigerate the leftover zucchini curry in an airtight container for 2-4 days. For prolonged storage, freeze in a freezer-safe container for about 2 weeks.
To thaw the frozen curry, defrost it in a microwave, or thaw it overnight in the fridge. You can also let it self-thaw by leaving it at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
💭 Pro Tips
- Do not put any additional water in the sabzi as the zucchini will have enough water to cook itself.
- If you are new to Indian cooking, then, measure the spices and have them ready in a small bowl. When we add powdered spices to the pan, they cook super-fast, so have some water ready to bring down the temperature instantly.
- Replace red onions with shallots or yellow onions.
- Substitute tomato paste with 3 medium-sized tomatoes.
- Adjust the cooking time according to your taste.
- If you want to keep your zucchini super crispy, then add salt at the end.
- It is best to cook zucchini covered on low heat. The moisture released by the zucchini is enough to cook itself.
- If you want the zucchini curry to be crunchy, just cook enough to get rid of the rawness and turn off the flame when the zucchini leaves are still crunchy. But if you like buttery tender zucchini, cook enough till that stage is reached.
❓Frequently Asked Questions
No, Zucchini and Turai are not the same. Turai is the ridge guard. Also called a loofa guard. It is also called courgette in European countries. It has a super tender interior and skin when it is young, but as it matures it becomes super fibrous.
Yes, this zucchini sabji is a vegan recipe.
Suggested recipes
A few more instant pot Indian vegetarian recipes:
- Chana Dal in Instant Pot: No-soak Split Chickpea Lentil Curry
- Daal Palak | How to make Indian Palak dal recipe?
- Dal Makhani: No soak pressure cook recipe
- Toor Dal in Instant Pot: No Soak Arhar Dal Recipe
- Frozen Cauliflower in air fryer : A Quick Recipe
More Indian recipes:
- Pakoras in Air Fryer: Crispy and Healthy!
- Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli Spiced to Perfection!
- Air Fryer Plantain Chips- Kerala Style Banana Chips
- Shimla Mirch ki sabzi (Pepper curry
- Cabbage Curry Recipe ( North Indian Cabbage Sabzi)
- Aloo tamatar sabzi
I hope you enjoyed this Zucchini sabzi recipe. Share your results and opinions in the comment section below. Also, subscribe to never miss a recipe.
Till then,
Make it delicious and quick!
📝 Recipe Card: Zucchini Curry
Zucchini Curry Recipe ( Zucchini Sabzi)
Ingredients
- 3 cups Zucchini (1 lb cubed)
- 1 Red Onion small (Finely chopped)
- 5-6 Garlic cloves (minced)
- 2 tablespoon Vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoon ginger (grated)
- 1 tablespoon Cumin seeds
- 3 tablespoon Tomato paste
- ¾ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- A pinch of heeng (Asafetida)
Instructions
Step 1 Prep the ingredients
- Start by washing the zucchini. Pat dry and chop into cubes. And set it aside
- Chop the onion finely, mince garlic, and grated ginger.
- Bring out all the spices and keep them at a hand's distance. While preparing zucchini curry, you must be quick with adding the dry spices. They are sheer powders and burn very quickly. Also, keep a glass of water close.
Step 2 Preparing masala for zucchini curry
- In a skillet heat oil. And add cumin seeds.
- When the seeds start to sizzle add chopped onions, ginger, and garlic. Sauté them at medium heat. When they turn golden reduce the heat to low.
- Start by adding turmeric, chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala, and salt. Give them a quick stir and add 2-3 tablespoons of water.
- Let the spices cook for a minute and then add tomato paste. Stir and cook the tomato paste for 2 minutes.
- When the masala starts to leave oil, it is ready for the zucchini.
Step 3 Adding and cooking zucchini
- Add the chopped zucchini and then use a ladle to gently coat the zucchini with the masala.
- Now cover the skillet and let the zucchini curry cook over medium heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Adjust the cooking time depending on how you like your zucchini. If you want the zucchini curry to be crunchy, just cook enough to get rid of the rawness and turn off the flame while the zucchini is still crunchy. But if you like buttery tender zucchini, cook slightly longer.
- Serve hot with roti or naan.
Notes
- Do not put any additional water in the sabzi as the zucchini will have enough water to cook itself.
- If you are new to Indian cooking, then, measure the spices and have them ready in a small bowl. When we add powdered spices to the pan, they cook super-fast, so have some water ready to bring down the temperature instantly.
- Replace red onions with shallots or yellow onions.
- Replace tomato paste with 3 medium-sized tomatoes.
- Adjust the cooking time according to your taste.
- If you want to keep your zucchini super crispy, then add salt at the end.
- It is best to cook zucchini covered on low heat. The moisture released by the zucchini is enough to cook itself.
- If you want the zucchini curry to be crunchy, just cook enough to get rid of the rawness and turn off the flame when the zucchini leaves are still crunchy. But if you like buttery tender zucchini, cook enough till that stage is reached.
📋 Nutrition Facts
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