Plain Fried Courgette Flowers (Kolokithoanthoi Tiganismena)

Where kolokithoanthoi gemistoi stuffs each courgette flower with rice and cheese before frying or baking, this simpler version skips all of that, dipping the flowers plain in a light batter and frying them quickly, letting the flower's own delicate, faintly sweet flavour come through without anything else competing for attention.

This is genuinely fast, ready in well under half an hour including preparation, and it makes good use of the male flowers particularly, the ones that do not go on to produce a courgette, which are often removed from a productive plant anyway and would otherwise go to waste.

The whole dish depends on a properly light batter and hot oil, since courgette flowers are delicate and can turn soggy if the batter is too thick or the oil not hot enough to crisp them quickly.

Key preparation steps

1. Clean courgette flowers gently, removing the stamen.
2. Whisk a light, thin batter.
3. Dip each flower and fry briefly.
4. Serve immediately with lemon.

Preparing the flowers

Gently open each flower and remove the stamen from inside, checking for any insects, which is common with courgette flowers bought fresh or picked from a garden. Handle them carefully throughout, since the petals are genuinely delicate and tear easily.

The batter

Whisk flour with cold sparkling water or plain cold water until you have a thin, light batter, closer to a crepe batter than a thick coating, since a heavy batter overwhelms the flower's delicate flavour and texture. A little salt is all the seasoning the batter needs.

Frying

Dip each flower into the batter, letting excess drip off, and fry in hot oil for just a minute or two per side, until pale golden and crisp. This is a very quick fry, and pulling them the moment they colour keeps the flowers from turning greasy or soggy.

What matters in this dish