Potato Cutlets

Pan roasted potato cutlets.
4 Potatoes
2 Onions
3 Green Chilies
2” Ginger
Coriander
1 tsp Whole Dhania
½ tsp Red Chili Powder
½ tsp Cumin - Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Pepper Powder
4 Bread slices
4 tsp of Bread crumbs

Boil potatoes with salt. Peel and mash them well.

Add chopped onions, green chilies, grated ginger, coriander, red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder, pepper powder, whole dhania and salt.

Place bread slices under running tap water for 10 seconds and gently squeeze the excess water.

Squeezing it with fingers mix it in the potato base. Make small lemon size balls and place them on the palm and flatten it. Take dry bread crumbs in a flat plate and roll the flattened potato cutlet in them covering all the sides thoroughly.

Heat oil in a kadai (I personally prefer a traditional concave shape kadai for maximum usage of space with less oil) and never let the oil be screaming hot! It burns the first batch.

Pick each piece, rolled in a plate of bread crumbs and gently drop in oil. Let then fry for a few seconds and keep turning back and forth so it will not burn.

Once they all turn golden yellow, it’s time to remove from the oil. Place them on paper towels so the excess oil is absorbed.

Or

Place the rolled cutlets on a hot pan, add oil and cook on medium flame till both sides are toasted nicely. A whole batch can be done at the same time.

Follow pan roasting when using for cutlet chat to avoid the excess oil.

Serve with Ketchup, tamarind or mint chutney.

Cutlet Chat

This is a 2 part dish. To make them happen parallely; cook chick peas and potatoes in a pressure cooker at the same time. Get the gravy stated on one side and prepare the base for the cutlets. When chole is cooking, start roasting the cutlets. Put them all together and serve.

For Chole
2 cups White Chickpeas/Kabuli Channa
2 Onions
3 large Tomatoes / 1 can Diced Tomatoes/ Tomato Paste
2 - 3 Green Chilies
1 tsp Ginger - Garlic Paste
1 cup Half-Half or Fresh Curd
1 tsp Kasuri Methi
2 tsp Chole Masala
½ tsp Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
½ tsp Cumin-Coriander Powder
1 tsp Jeera
4 tsp Mixed nuts powder (from a previous blog in Podis/Powders)


Soak chick peas over night with a pinch of turmeric. Cook in a pressure cooker with salt till the chick peas are soft. Drain and keep aside.

Take 3 tsp of oil in a low bottom non-stick pan and add jeera. When it starts to sizzle, add very finely chopped onions and chilies. Keep stirring at medium heat till the onions are translucent. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a few minutes.

Mix in chopped tomatoes/can of store bought tomato puree/diced or cut tomatoes (any thing is fine), amchur powder, chole masala, cumin- coriander powder, kasuri methi and salt. Cook the gravy in medium heat, for about 5-7 mins, stirring in between. Now add 2 tsp of mixed nuts powder. This will make the base very thick, rich and creamy.

Mix in cooked chickpeas and water as required. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring in between. Mix in half-half or beaten sour curd. Add more water if needed, taste for salt and adjust the seasonings.

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For Cutlets

4 Potatoes
2 Onions
3 Green Chilies
2” Ginger
Coriander
1 tsp Whole Dhania
½ tsp Red Chili Powder
½ tsp Cumin - Coriander Powder
¼ tsp Pepper Powder
4 Bread slices
4 tsp of Bread crumbs

Boil potatoes with salt. Peel and mash them well.

Add chopped onions, green chilies, grated ginger, coriander, red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder, pepper powder, whole dhania and salt.

Place bread slices under running tap water for 10 seconds and gently squeeze the excess water.

Squeezing it with fingers mix it in the potato base. Make small lemon size balls and place them on the palm and flatten it. Take dry bread crumbs in a flat plate and roll the flattened potato cutlet in them covering all the sides thoroughly.

Place the rolled cutlets on a hot pan, add oil and cook on medium flame till both sides are toasted nicely. A whole batch can be done at the same time.

Put then together and serve:

Place 4-6 cutlets on a plate. Place 1-2 ladles of Chole in the middle. Garnish with date-tamarind chutney, mint-coriander chutney & beaten yogurt/curd with chat masala. Top it off with chopped red onion, coriander and sev.

Serve when warm for a real treat!

Peppers in Groundnut Gravy

4 Green Peppers
Handful each of colored Peppers – I cut and freeze when available
3 Potatoes
2 Onions
3 Green Chilies
Coriander
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
3 tsp Groundnuts
1 tsp Amchur or Tamarind paste

Dry fry peanuts and grind to a rough powder.

Chop Peppers into 1” pieces and onions into small pieces. Boil potatoes with salt. Peel and cut into small pieces.

Take 3 tsp of oil in a skillet and make tadka with ½ tsp jeera and ½ tsp mustard seeds. Add chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste and green chilies and fry till the onion turns translucent.

Then add chopped peppers, salt, turmeric and cook in medium flame till they are cooked, then, add cooked potatoes.

In a bowl add peanut powder, amchur and red chili powder and mix well adding water. Add the mix to the skillet and mix well and bring to boil. Add water as required.

Taste for salt and seasonings and adjust accordingly. Garnish with coriander.

This can be eaten with rice or rotis/chapatti.

Cucumber Pachadi

2 Cucumbers
2 tsp Sesame Seeds - Nuvullu
1-2 Green chilies
1 tsp Tamarind paste

Peel and cut cucumbers into small cubes. Discard the seeds and inner soft flesh. Add salt, mix well and let sit in the oven for 15 min - ½ hr. The water in the cucumber will given out, squeeze the pieces and keep aside.

Take 4 tsp of oil in a small skillet and when oil is hot add 1 tsp urad dal 1/2 tsp jeera, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, hing, 3 - 4 red chilies, and chopped green chilies and curry leaves. Then add 2 tsp sesame seeds and fry for a few minutes.

Let cool. Transfer the tadka into a blender jar, leaving oil, a few mustard seeds and curry leaves in the skillet.

Dry grind tadka to a smooth powder.

Empty the ground powder into the skillet, add tamarind paste, turmeric, and the cucumber pieces and mix well. Taste for salt and adjust seasonings. Transfer contents into a serving bowl.

This is a basic recipe for dosakaye, yellow cucumber, but it tastes good with green cucumber also.

Serve with rice.

Mr. Nutmeg

Our weekend, turned out to be eventful(for my kids).Our daughter has been begging/pleading for a pet since a long time. She is basically an animal lover. She started with dogs and finally came down to rodents.

We brought home a Hamster. She named him Nutmeg for his color and couldn't get enough of him.

Hamsters are nocturnal animals, that sleep during the day and are active and awake at night. They are vegetarians and can be fed carrot, lettuce, cherries etc.

My kids fought over where He should be placed and finally my daughter convinced my son, that he is a sensitive sleeper and hamsters like to "Exercise" on their wheel during nights, she promised he can visit Nutmeg in her room when ever he feels like it.

I cannot believe we have a rat at home(she does not like it when I say that) but since she is in charge and it does not smell and make noise, I can live with it!

Masala Vada

4 cups Chick Peas
1 cup Rice flour
2 Onions
4 - 6 Green Chilies
1" Ginger
Few Curry Leaves
Coriander

Soak chick peas over night in water. Drain the water and grind chick peas roughly using as little water as possible. Soft batter makes the vada soft. Grind green chilies also roughly.

Add chopped onions, grated ginger, curry leaves and salt. Now add rice flour and coriander, and mix well. It does not require any more water. These are spicy vadas, so, suit your taste and add green chilies accordingly.

Heat oil in a kadai (I personally prefer a traditional concave shape kadai for maximum usage of space with less oil) and never let the oil be screaming hot! It burns the first batch.

Drop a spoon of hot oil in the mixture; this will make the fried item light.

Make small balls of the batter and flatten it in the palm with fingers and gently drop in oil. Keep turning back and forth so they will not burn.

Once they all turn golden yellow, it’s time to remove from the oil. Place them on paper towels so the excess oil is absorbed.

Masala vada make a great evening snack, they do not absorb too much oil. Enjoy with a cup of hot coffee or tea.