Vegetable Cutlet - Aloo Tikki / Spicy potato croquettes - Step By Step Recipe

Cutlet has been my childhood love and I was happy when I knew it's my hubby's favorite snack too :) When we were kids, my sis & I would gorge ourselves with cutlets on the train journeys from Madras to Trivandrum, which used to be our holiday destination every summer. We had lotsa fun playing with cousins and driving our grandparents crazy as we ran around the house! Those days are unforgettable indeed...playing cricket in the backyard, hide n seek inside the house, board games like LUDO, snake & ladder and of course, pulling each others' legs! In college days, cutlets, samosas and puffs were like our everyday evening snack after classes and our gang of friends were 'regular' customers at the local bakery nearby :-)

Given this background story, let's move on to the main part- the recipe! I learnt to make cutlet from Sreemathy chithi (mom's sis), who is one of my biggest sources of inspiration to cook better and try out new recipes. It turned out to be a big hit even the first time I tried and I've made it tens of times ever since. My mum-in-law was just floored by its perfect taste - "Crispy on the outside, Soft on the inside" ;)  Go ahead, give it a try and it is sure to dumbfound your guests!

Vegetable Cutlet

Ingredients:

The core -

Boiled potatoes - 4 (medium sized)
Chopped vegetables - carrots, beans and green peas - 2 cups altogether (thats about 1 carrot, a dozen beans and a ladleful of peas)
Onions - 2 (chopped)
Green chillies - 3 or 4 (finely chopped)
Ginger - 1 tsp (very finely chopped or grated)

Spices - 

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp (Be careful as we use green chillies too)
Dhania-jeera powder - 1.5 tsp [Or use 1 tsp coriander powder (store-bought) and 1/2 tsp cumin powder(store-bought)]
Garam masala(or chaat masala or pav bhaji masala) - 1/2 tsp or lesser [Don't add more as it's too over-powering and spoils the taste]
Salt - to taste [approx. 3/4 tsp ]

For the Crispy Coating -

Toasted bread - 3 slices
Maida (all-purpose flour) - 5 tbsp [ Use Atta or corn flour if you don't want to use Maida]
Oil [sunflower oil or canola oil] - for frying 

Method:

• Boil potatoes, peel the skin.

• Cut carrots, peas and beans(or just use frozen mixed vegetables, I don't like corn in my cutlets or fried rice, so I never buy them).

• Heat some oil in a skillet.

• Sauté chopped onions, green chillies and grated ginger (or use ginger-garlic paste).

• Cook carrots, beans and peas in microwave for 3-5 mins.

• Drain off water and add the veggies to the skillet.

• Mash potatoes and add to this.

• When the veggies are almost done, add the spices.

• Feel the vegetables. Everything should get mixed up very well. Taste it to check for salt level as well as spice level. If something doesn't taste good, correct it now!
• Tip: Usually I prepare until this step in advance and keep the vegetable mixture in the fridge. Thereafter it's easy peasy, so you can even surprise your guests by making fresh cutlets after they arrive. 

the vegetable filling for cutlets

• Meanwhile, toast bread to darker shade (not burnt/black!) in the toaster. Use tawa (dosa kal) alternatively and wait patiently on medium flame for bread to get crispy/toasted.

• Allow the toasted bread to cool for 5-10 min.

• Grind toasted bread in mixer or you may also powder it by hand. If you can get rusk (I use Britannia), you can omit the previous 2 steps and just powder it straight away in a mixie. Keep it aside on a plate. 
• Tip: I also save this powdered bread crumbs in a ziploc so as to save time after guests arrive. 

• Take maida(or all-purpose flour or plain flour) or wheat flour(less preferred).

• Make a thick paste (dosa batter consistency) with water. It has to stick to the surface of the cutlet.  
• Tip: Add water gradually, else, you may have to add more flour than you actually need to get the required consistency.

• Make small balls out of the veg.

• Flatten the veg balls using your palms, coat it with flour paste and then dip into bread powder (this makes it crisp).

• Heat oil for frying.  Use lesser oil than what you would need for deep-frying papads.
• Tip: Keep flame between Medium and High.

• Fry maximum 2-3 at a time in a shallow skillet.

Cutlets being shallow-fried :-)

• Reverse the sides and fry again until the color is appealing. 

Ummm....Can't wait to taste them!

• Use kitchen tissues to remove excess oil.

Cutlets are ready!!

• Serve with tomato ketchup.
• Repeat for next batch , but remove the fried residues from the skillet and use a paper tissue to clean it before frying the next set. 

Notes :

1. Warm the cutlets in oven (do not microwave) before you serve or eat.
2. Do not keep covered for it will absorb moisture and become mushy.

Do try this at your leisure and I wish it comes out real tasty! :)