Battered Zucchini Flowers Stuffed with Tomato, Onion & Rice

Ingredients (Serves 4 – 12 pieces)

For the filling:

• 12 zucchini flowers, fresh, stamen removed

• ½ cup uncooked medium-grain rice (or arborio for creamier texture)

• 1 medium onion, finely diced

• 1 medium tomato, finely diced (peeled if possible)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• ½ tsp smoked paprika (optional)

• Salt & pepper to taste

• 2 tbsp chopped parsley or mint

• 1 Orange (use your favourite type of orange).

For the batter:

• ½ cup plain flour

• ½ cup cold sparkling water (adjust for thin pancake-like batter)

• Pinch of salt

For frying:

• Neutral oil (, sunflower, or light olive oil) – enough for shallow frying

For the Siracha Mayo:

• ½ cup good quality mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

• 2 tsp Orange juice

• ½ clove garlic, grated or crushed

Method

1. Prepare the filling:

   • Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Sauté onion until translucent. Add garlic, tomato, cumin, paprika, salt & pepper. Cook until tomato breaks down.

   • Stir in rice + ½ cup water. Cook gently until rice is half-cooked and water absorbed (about 8–10 mins).

   • Remove from heat, stir in parsley/mint. Let cool slightly.

2. Stuff the flowers:

   • Carefully open each zucchini flower, spoon in about 1–1½ tsp of filling (don’t overfill).

   • Twist the tips of petals gently to close.

3. Make the batter:

   • Whisk flour, sparkling water, salt (and egg if using) until smooth, slightly runny.

4. Fry:

   • Heat oil in a wide pan (about ½ cm deep) to medium-high (180°C / 350°F).

   • Dip each stuffed flower in batter, shake off excess, shallow fry 2–3 mins per side until golden.

   • Drain on paper towel, sprinkle lightly with salt.

5. : Siracha Mayo

   • Mix mayo, Siracha and orange juice until smooth.

Serving

• Serve 3 zucchini flowers per person on a small plate.

• Dollop or ramekin of sweet chili aioli on the side.

• Optional garnish: fresh herbs, a squeeze of lemon, or microgreens.

This gives you a crisp outside, fragrant rice-tomato filling, and a modern sweet-spicy aioli that balances the fried richness.