Keto Gluten-Free Zucchini and Ricotta Meatballs

 

What on earth do keto-friendly meatballs have to do with driving the back roads of a jungle in India? It takes balls to drive in India! And I for one, even though I did get an international driver’s license for this trip, will leave that to the professionals. I was happy to sit back, hold onto my seat, be very tense and watch the Indian countryside from our beeping, swerving SUV as we made our way all over the Indian jungle on one of our many road trips from Goa to Bangalore to the jungles near Ooty.

Driving in India is like driving through a video game but instead of Mario, Luigi and jumping off of digital mushrooms you are dodging cows, rickshaws and maybe a rickety old lorry driving ten miles an hour on an interstate that may or not be mainly dirt. Quick! Look out! Is that a wrinkly old bullock maneuvering through traffic on the highway? And is that a pile of bullock poo left in his wake? If you are on a road trip through India, then, yes, it probably is.

There might be constant cows in traffic and men in lungis peeing on the side of the road (Or

worse) but at least there are tatas. No, not boobies. Tatas are a brand of truck, usually heavy-duty, that are driven all over India. If you are driving through the lush jungles of southern India, don’t be surprised if one comes barreling down a dirt road right at you.

If you are on holiday in India, yes, sometimes you may see a truck that looks just like President Donald Trump. After exactly two hours of sleep and leaving for our jungle holiday at four a.m. a lot of things may look like Donald Trump’s hair to me but this lorry loaded with Indian hay really does look an awful lot like our forty-fifth president.

It always seems like driving laws are non-existent when road tripping, well really anywhere in India. Weaving in and out of traffic? Sure! Driving on the wrong side of the road? Why not! Pass other drivers around blind curves? Don’t mind if I do! It’s all perfectly normal on an Indian road trip from Karnataka south to the state of Tamil Nadu. Road tripping in India is nothing if not organized chaos.

On our five and a half hour voyage to Massagundi this very early a.m. I tried so hard to sleep in the back of the SUV but to no avail. Mainly because with all the bumping, weaving and brake slamming, not to mention loud horn honking, obviously, I thought I could really die at any moment. I just felt safer with my eyes open. And that why I was free to watch all the men in traditional man skirts, lungis, peeing next to the roadways. We counted twenty-five between Bangalore and Mysore before we began the trek up the Nilgiris into the Blue Mountains.

Mixing and forming these easy gluten-free meatballs, is a hell of a lot easier than attempting to drive in India. Forming these tasty meatballs is a lot easier and less chaotic than a road trip from Bangalore to Massagundi. Italian food may seem a little bland compared to the spice and in your face flavors of India but I personally love a good meatball, especially when they are full of ricotta cheese.

Keto Gluten-Free Zucchini Meatballs

3 zucchini’s, grated

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped

3 cloves roasted garlic, chopped

1 egg

Grate the zucchini and add the salt. Let sit 20 minutes. Wring out the excess water from the zucchini in a paper towel. Mix in with the zucchini the ricotta, parsley, basil, roasted garlic, and the egg. Form into balls. Grease a baking sheet with olive oil. Bake the meatballs at 400 for 20 minutes.

You can eat these delicious meatballs by themselves for a keto-friendly snack or dip them in your favorite slightly low carb tomato sauce.