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.

------------------------------------------------------
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!

Bhel Mix

I can never forget those trips to Ramakrishna beach or VUDA Park, some of the best beaches in Visakhapatnam/Vizag. Even though the main attraction was to play in the beach, the main obsession was to eat the “mure-mixture” or bhel mix by the road side vendors, who would have mobile stands on their shoulders. Guess, did not worry about hygiene too much in those days. They would mix up all the items in a very skilful way, very interesting to watch. Of course on the same page I have to mention the roasted corn which will be blog for another day. For now, here is how to do bhel mix. I tweaked it a little from the beach vendors.
10 Cups Puffed Rice - Mara-mara/Murellu
1 Red Onion
1 Tomato
2 Potatoes
Few Mango pieces – Optional
2 – 3 Green Chilies
Coriander
1 tsp Tamarind and Dates paste
1 tsp Jaggery
1 Lemon
1 cup Sev/Bhujia
Potato Chips
½ cup Peanuts

Dry fry peanuts and remove the skin. If puffed rice is not crispy, dry fry for a few minutes and it will become crispy again.

Soak tamarind in hot water, extract pulp. Roughly eye ball tamarind paste and equal ratio of dates and grind to make a smooth paste with a tsp of jaggery. To save this mix for future use, bring to boil in a sauce pan, let cool and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Boil and peel potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Chop onion, tomato, green chili and coriander very finely. Cut mango into small pieces. In a vessel mix them all with salt, red chili powder, tamarind-dates paste, and lemon juice. Just before serving add the puffed rice/mara-mara, chips, sev and mix well otherwise it will become very soggy. Check for salt and adjust seasonings.

Any crunchy things and fried stuff like bajjis or pakodi can also be added. Sever immediately in paper cones or bowls.

A guilt free snack, comes in handy for a large gathering of people.

Pani Poori

1 bag Pani Poori Shells
Available in Indian Grocery stores.
4 Potatoes
1 Onion
2 Green Chilies
Coriander
PaniPoori Masala
3 cups Cold Water
Sev - Optional

Boil potatoes with salt, peel and mash them. Chop onions, chilies and coriander, salt and mix them.

For the pani:

Take 3 cups of cold water in a bowl, add 2 tsp of pani poori masala, salt and lemon juice. Stir well. Keep aside.

Prick shells with right thumb and make a hole. Stuff it with the potato mash, garnish with sev.

Serve the stuffed poori in a plate and pani in a bowl.

Pour some pani in the poori shell and eat them.