my jerusalem kitchen

If that name scares you and makes you think it’s zucchini cooked with some sort of tropical bird, rest assured. No birds were harmed in the making of this breakfast. Only unborn baby chicks. Oh wow, that’s so sad.

I wrote last time about Olive Roasted Almonds as being the sophisticated sister of shlumpy popcorn and homely potato chips. Well, this Kuku is like the royal palace of quiches/frittatas. It has sophisticated flavors and it’s also really easy to make. You can do it in a frying pan or in the oven. One small warning: if you have ever had any indication that you might be OCD, do not attempt making this. Zucchini will be all over your counter, dill will become a new feature of your cutting board and we haven’t even gotten to all the pieces that didn’t make it into the mixture and are now hovering over your drain.

This recipe was found here and includes my small addition of herbs on top. It would also be good with chard, spinach or kale on top, too. Go crazy!

What you need:

2 large zucchinis (or 1 lb of zucchini); grated

2 medium-sized onions; finely diced

4 eggs

4-5 garlic cloves; minced

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp baking soda (optional, but it will add some height)

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup plus a little more of mint and dill; finely chopped

1 tsp of the oil of your choice for frying

How to do it:

Preheat your oven to 375 F. In a frying pan, heat up some olive oil. My cousin Banafche taught me that most Persian food requires heating up the oil first and then putting in the onions so they make a loud sizzling sound. Add your garlic, too.

When the onions become translucent, add the turmeric and take a big ol’ whiff. mmm. Okay, now give it a good mix and let the onions and garlic saute a little longer. Grate your zucchini now and add it to the onions. This part gets a little rough, as you need to wait about 15 minutes for the moisture to evaporate. Zucchinis are majorly watery. While you are waiting anxiously, crack your eggs into a bowl and whisk in (or if you’re me, fork in) baking soda, salt & pepper. Once the zucchinis seem dry or when you completely run out of patience, transfer them to a sieve (and press down on them with a spatula over and over or even grab some sheets of paper towel to soak up the water). Make sure all of the moisture is out. A cheesecloth would work wonders here. While it’s draining a little, chop up your herbs and set aside.

Okay, yay, so that’s finished. Combine the eggs and the zucchini, onion, garlic mixture. Pour the mixture into a pyrex dish, aluminum baking tray or whatever you usually use. The smaller the tray the thicker they’ll be, and you can see in my picture that I used a large dish and they spread out quite thin. I would try them in a brownie dish. Sprinkle the herbs so that they completely cover the top, like this:

When you remove the Kuku from the oven, look for a goldeny brown hue (about 30 minutes, depending on your oven). If it’s not quite there yet, leave it in a little longer. You can serve this warm, cold for breakfast or lunch, it’s an appetizer, meal or side dish. Goes great with this Yogurt-Tehina sauce. Enjoy!