Recipe: VEGETABLE CUTLET

Image Courtesy: http://friskycook.blogspot.in

Vegetable Cutlet was probably the first dish that I learned to make. I was not too fond of cooking when I was young. When I was studying in Std. IX, my school participated in an exhibition. I joined a group of girls who were making vegetable cutlets at a counter. Having tasted the dish only in a restaurant, I was fascinated to see that it could be made with not too much difficulty.

Today, I have added and deleted a few things to make the absolutely delicious cutlets that all the members of my family love.

Ingredients:

Potato – ½ kg
Peas – 50 gm
Carrots – 100 gm (chopped fine)
Beans – 50 gm (stringed and chopped fine)
Chopped Coriander Leaves – 2 tsp
Bread Slices – 2 (I prefer brown bread while you can use white too)
Corn flour – 3 tsp
Bread crumbs – 2 cups
Salt to taste
Oil – for shallow frying

Masala ingredients:

Garlic – 3 cloves
Ginger – ½ inch piece
Red Chilly Powder – ½ tsp
Oil – ½ tsp

Method:

1. Pressure-cook the potatoes, peel the skin and smash it with a pav-bhaji masher in a large mixing bowl.
2. Boil the peas, carrots and beans in a pan with salt and water. Drain the water completely and add to mashed potatoes.
3. Blend the masala ingredients to a smooth paste in a mixer and add to the vegetables.
4. Add salt and chopped coriander leaves.
5. Soak the bread slices one-by-one in a bowl of water for a few seconds, squeeze out the water completely and add them to the vegetables. Bread gives the cutlets extra crunchiness.
6. Mix all the ingredients gently and shape them into balls the size of an orange. You will get around 10-12 of these.
7. Mix the corn flour with water to a thin consistency in a bowl.
8. Take a ball of potato mixture and roll it in the cornflour-water mix while making sure that it’s completely coated.
9. Remove the ball immediately and roll it in the bread crumbs spread on a plate.
10. Now flatten the ball before shaping it as per your choice. Making it round is the simplest way. I make my vegetable cutlets oval in shape. There are cutlet moulds available in the market if you want stylish shapes.
11. Shallow fry the cutlets on a non-stick tawa or an iron skillet over a slow fire till golden brown. There is no need to use too much oil. Add as and when required.

Serve the super-yummy cutlets with Green Chutney and Tomato Sauce. Believe me when I say that the vegetable cutlets taste finger-licking good.

I avoid deep frying for two reasons - the cutlets absorb too much oil which can get quite nauseating and there is a chance that they might break into pieces when placed in hot oil for frying.