I was thrilled when Manischewitz asked me to develop a recipe for Thanksgivukah. This once-in-a-lifetime convergence of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah is most definitely cause for celebration! Two fun holidays, fabulous family celebrations, and lots of glorious food. What could be better? In honor of the glory that is Thanksgivukah, I whipped up these Curry Vegetable Latkes, a Hanukkah food tradition with a delicious twist. Instead of potatoes, I subbed healthier zucchini and carrot shreds. I also added curry, allspice, cumin and cayenne to take the flavor to another level. The spices warm things up a bit, giving these latkes a terrific flavor. I used Manischewitz matzo meal and potato starch to bind them, which means you could make these latkes for Passover as well. Or just eat them year round, as I am tempted to do!
Meanwhile, check out these fabulous Thanksgivukah links from Manischewitz:
Hilarious Thanksgiving-Hanukkah Rap Battle
Enjoy these Curry Vegetable Latkes, a fun and somewhat healthier twist on a Hanukkah classic. I like serving them with a dollop of labaneh or tzatziki, but they’re also great as-is without topping.
This post was sponsored by Manischewitz. Thank you for supporting my sponsors, they help me to share more free recipes and food history with you!
Recommended Products:
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Curry Vegetable Latkes
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini
- 2 large carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 cup Manischewitz Matzo Meal
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Manischewitz potato starch
- 1 3/4 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional - adds spice)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- Peanut or grapeseed oil for frying
- Labaneh, tzatziki, Greek yogurt or dairy-free sour cream for topping (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Before you begin making the latkes, place your wire cooling rack close to the area where you will be frying the latkes. Place a layer of paper towels below the cooling rack to catch excess oil.Wash and remove ends from the zucchini, then grate using a hand grater or food processor shredding attachment with fine holes (small shreds). I really recommend using the food processor, it saves a ton of time and will help you avoid onion tears when grating the onion. Remove and set aside.
- Wash and peel carrots, then grate using a hand grater or food processor shredding attachment with fine holes (small shreds). Remove and set aside.
- Grate the onion using the same grater or attachment you used for the zucchini and carrots (fine holes for small shreds).
- Place zucchini shreds and grated onion in the center of a clean tea towel or multiple layers of cheesecloth.
- Wrap the shreds up in the cloth, twisting the cloth to secure the bundle, and squeeze firmly to remove excess liquid from the shreds.Pour zucchini and onion into a large clean dry bowl. Stir the shreds with a fork to make sure the grated onion is evenly mixed throughout the zucchini shreds.
- Place carrot shreds in the center of a clean tea towel or multiple layers of cheesecloth.
- Wrap the shreds up in the cloth, twisting the cloth to secure the bundle, and squeeze firmly to remove excess liquid from the shreds.Pour the carrot shreds into the bowl with the zucchini shreds.
- Heat oil in a large skillet. Add enough to a reach a depth of 1/8 inch. Heat slowly over medium to about 325 degrees F. While oil is heating, use the fork to stir the matzo meal, beaten eggs, potato starch, salt, curry, allspice, cumin, cayenne and pepper into the zucchini, carrot and onion shreds. You can sprinkle on more salt to taste after cooking, if desired. Take care to make sure the egg and seasonings are fully mixed throughout the zucchini shreds.Scoop up ¼ cup of the vegetable latke mixture and shape into a flat, compacted disc.
- Place the disk carefully into the hot oil. Latkes can break apart at this point, they’re very delicate. If you can get them into the hot oil in one piece, chances are they will stick together – frying them is like the “glue” that holds them together. It takes a gentle touch, and it may take you some practice to get the “feel” for it.The oil should sizzle, but not pop when the latke hits it; if the oil jumps wildly or smokes, it is too hot. If it only bubbles weakly, the oil is not hot enough. Use the first latke to test the oil temperature, and don’t fry a whole batch until the temperature is right.
- Continue shaping the latkes in this way. Fry in batches of 4-5 latkes at a time (no more than that – don’t crowd the pan) for 2-3 minutes per side until brown and crispy. Note: If your latkes aren’t holding together, stir more matzo meal into the mixture, 2 teaspoons at a time, until the batter “holds”. You can also add another egg to the mixture if needed.Remove the latkes from the pan using a metal spatula and place them on the wire cooling rack to drain. Sprinkle with more salt to taste, if desired.
- I recommend serving latkes fresh within 10 minutes of frying them, if your cooking schedule permits. If you need to make them ahead, fry them 4 hours or less before serving. After allowing the latkes to drain on the wire cooling rack, place them on an ungreased, unlined cookie sheet. Leave them in a cool corner of the kitchen until ready to reheat. Place in a 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes (7 if using a convection oven) until heated through, just prior to serving.
Nutrition
The recipe sounds delicious. Have you ever tried to make these in an air fryer or just bake them? I can’t eat anything fried.
Hi Paula! I don’t own an air fryer, so haven’t tried it… and I haven’t baked them. They would probably bake up fine, though not as crispy as the fried version.
can the curried vegetable latkes be frozen>
Yes. Make them, let them drain and cool, then freeze them in single layers in freezer bags or containers.
It is zucchini season and we were gifted by a buch of them so I made this. It was really good. Everybody more than approved. Thank you. Since I use an iPad it was a little daunting to follow this recipe because there were big photos of all the squishing to get rid of excess water that were between the instructions. I would have had an easier time if the ingredients were immediately followed by the instructions. Also, I store all my favorite recipes on an app and it was unable to detect this recipe at all so I had to copy it manually which was not fun but was well worth it because I know I will make it again! NOM NOM! Oh yeah, also, I LOVED the way you stacked them in the photo! Gorgeous! I for sure will do this the next time, but not today because they got eaten as they exited the pan. Also, we didn’t have any yogurt or sour cream around but we did have goat cheese which made a great combo. Thanks again, Ms. Torey.
Has anyone tried baking these instead of frying them?
I used a spray on non stick pan and cooked them that way. If you sprayed them with oil spray I think You could bake but easier to do on top of stove with minimal oil. Love the recipe. A nutritionist from Hweshey gave mea similar recipe which I made before I saw this on line. This is so good with the carrots . I guess any root veg or squash could be used with other spices or herbs. YUM thanks.
Tori, That looks yum! Love the pics and step by step instructions.
Looks delicious and I have some zucchini just waiting for a great recipe! If I substitute flour for matzo meal, would the measurement be the same? And would I still need potato starch? Thank you! Btw, we’ve had nice results “air frying” veggie and bean patties using convection baking on a higher temperature (375/400) after spraying or lightly coating in oil, with a flip and repeat on the other side halfway through.
Bread crumbs would be a better substitute than flour here. You can omit the potato starch, it just helps the latkes to hold together a little better – but should be fine without it.
So, I tried this recipe about a week ago, and I was surprised at how much I liked it! Usually I don’t care much for zucchini because of the texture, however, these fried up crispy and the curry flavor was just delicious! I will definitely be making these again!
Great Tara! So happy you liked them.
These were a huge, huge hit at my Thanksgivukkuh dinner. The savory latke was not what anyone expected. Let’s just say I made 132 of them (not including the 2 I sampled) and had no leftovers 🙁 !!