Many summer evenings were spent observing my aunt cooking up a batch of these greasy, crunchy little fritters. I cannot vouch that this is my aunt’s recipe however. Traditionally, you would make ijje as a way to use up the remaining squash from a batch of Koosa. Koosa are basically stuffed zucchini, however they are made with a light-green type of zucchini called Magda or Grey Zucchini. Traditionally the zucchini are hollowed out and the remains are used in this recipe. It’s a really nice way to prevent wastage and use the entire vegetable. I find them nice for a healthy breakfast, or an appetizer or light lunch with a side of labneh.

Makes a batch of 4-6 fritters

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini (any kind will do) – grated amount approx. 1 1/2 cups

1 egg

2 tablespoons AP flour

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons parsley or mint (or both)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Few cracks black pepper

Directions:

Grate zucchini with a box grater and add salt. Stir the salt in and around the grated zucchini and allow to sit for 15 mins.

Use your hands to squeeze out the majority of the water from the zucchini. There can be some leftover, just try to get a good portion out.

Add herbs, garlic powder, egg, flour and pepper and mix well. The mixture will be loose-ish, and look a little eggy. You can adjust flour but you don’t want to make a paste here. You want batter to be quite liquidy.

Heat olive oil in frying pan and once shimmering, add a heaping tablespoonful of batter into frying pan. You can spread the pancake around a bit so it is thinner. Flip once browned but be careful not to burn them.

Serve with yogurt or inside a pita as a sandwich filling.