Beetroot cutlets
I am tired, sleepy & pushing myself to finish this blog post because you know my own mental goals :). I am crazy like that but at times if I don’t set personal goals for myself I definitely crouch back into the comfortable lazy zone. Ever since work from home has begun, I have been doing things to keep myself mentally & physically active because knowing me, I know that if 1 thing tips, the whole tower will fall down altogether for me. I have no clue why but my eating is linked to my exercising which is linked to my self care which is linked to my being enthu to clean up the house. And in all this, I have told myself I will try and be as consistent with the blogging space since I am anyways cooking a lot and also learning a lot of family recipes from mil (something I have been meaning to do for so long now). I don’t know how long I am going to keep up with any of the above mentioned but I am trying and so far I have been pretty impressed with myself.
Anywho, I try and consume beetroot often since it’s a food that’s generally good and specifically considered good for my skin condition. I usually just have it as a stir fry since that’s the least time consuming for mil but last week when we bought beetroots, I wanted to make some cutlets out of them just for kicks & since suddenly stir fry felt all boring :D. The cutlets came out real well that I noted down the recipe and noted down the tweaks I needed to make. I did not know that I had 1 beetroot left in the fridge. When I saw it yesterday, knew I needed to make those cutlets yet again and this time for the blog :). I am so so happy with the outcome of this batch with the tweaks that were successfully implemented :D. The main difference between batch 1 and 2 is that I added the potato beetroot mixture into the frying pan for a bit along with the onion, green chilli since I felt batch 1 had a much stronger earthier taste than what was required. I also did 2 coats of bread crumbs instead of 1 which gave the outer layer a nice crunchy texture. Over all a big win on the health front & the tummy front. Of course, this has more oil than a regular stir fry but hey, once in a while its definitely ok to replace those stir fries with these cutlets. I am loving these currently as an evening snack with some chai when I crave some tasty (lean towards junk) food the most.
- 1 medium sized beetroot (boiled)
- 1 small potato (boiled)
- 1 small onion
- 4 small garlic pods
- 1 small green chilli
- 2 tsp pav bhaji masala
- 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
- 1/8 tsp turmeric powder
- a pinch amchur/ dry mango powder
- a handful coriander leaves
- 1 tsp ghee/ vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp flax seed powder
- 2 tbsp bread crumbs
- salt as per taste
- 4 tbsp bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp water
- 2.5 tbsp vegetable oil
-
Pre step: Boil your beetroot & potato (I pressure cooked mine for 4-5 whistles) and remove the skin.
-
Take a wide bowl & mash the potato & beetroot.
-
Chop onion & green chilli finely. Grate garlic.
-
In a pan/ kadai, heat ghee. Add in garlic & green chilli.
-
Once the garlic starts to brown, throw in the onion.
-
When onion gets translucent, add the dry spices – pav bhaji masala, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, a little bit of salt.
-
If the mixture feels too dry, add a tsp of water.
-
After 1 or 2 minutes, add the mashed beetroot potato mash, some more salt.
-
Saute for 1 or 2 minutes till the mixture comes together. Check & adjust all your seasonings at this stage.
-
Finally add coriander leaves, mix and turn off heat.
-
Transfer to the bowl & let it cool down a bit.
-
When the mixture is warm or completely cool, add in the flax seed powder & bread crumbs.
-
Mix everything together to form a dough (slightly sticky is fine).
-
Make gooseberry size balls out of the dough and set it aside on a plate.
-
In a small plate, lay out the bread crumbs.
-
In another small plate, mix corn starch & water.
-
Roll each of the cutlet ball first onto the corn starch water and then coat with bread crumbs.
-
As you coat the cutlet, flatten the ball to form a patty shape. Make sure to coat all parts of the cutlet.
-
Set it aside on the plate.
-
Give all the cutlets another round of coating (dip in corn starch & coat with bread crumbs).
-
Heat a heavy bottom pan/ dosa pan with some oil.
-
Add in the cutlets & fry on both sides on medium heat till each side turns golden brown.
-
Drain excess oil on a kitchen towel.
-
Serve hot alongside some chai!
- These cutlets turn out spicy. So dial down on the spice levels if you don’t want it spicy.
- If you don’t have flax seed powder, just replace entirely with bread crumbs.
- Don’t add all the flax seed powder & bread crumbs in one go. Add part by part till required. Sometimes, you might even have to add a little more than what’s mentioned above depending on the water content in the beetroot.
- While coating with corn starch water & bread crumbs, take half the quantity for the first coating and then take the remaining on to the plate for the second coating. This is just to ensure your bread crumbs don’t get too wet and your corn starch doesn’t become cakey with the bread crumbs for coat 2.
- If you are crunched for time, you can skip coat 2.
Stepwise pictures
Pre work is to boil beetroot & potato. I pressure cooked mine for 4-5 whistles and then removed the skin. In a wide bowl, mash the potato & beetroot. Set it aside. 
Heat ghee in a kadai/ pan. Once hot, throw in the finely chopped green chilli & grated garlic. 
Once the garlic starts to brown, throw in the onion & saute. 
Once the onion becomes translucent add the dry spices – pav bhaji masala, amchur/ dry mango powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder & a bit of salt. Saute for 1-2 minutes. If the mixture is too dry, add 1 tsp of water. 
Then throw in the mashed beetroot potato. 
Mix everything well. Check & adjust all seasonings. Add coriander leaves. Mix & turn off heat. 
Transfer to the bowl & let it cool down a bit. 
When the mixture is warm (or completely cool), add in the flax seed powder & bread crumbs. 
Mix everything to form a slightly sticky dough. 
Make gooseberry sized balls & set it on a plate. 
In a small plate, layout the bread crumbs. In another plate, mix corn starch & water. 
Dip each cutlet ball into the corn starch water first. 
And then coat with bread crumbs. 
While coating, flatten out the ball to form a patty/ cutlet using your fingers. 
Make sure to coat the entire cutlet/ patty with bread crumbs. 
Lay it out on a plate. 
Repeat the same dip/ coat process for a second coat. 
Once that’s done, heat a heavy bottom pan/ dosa pan with some oil & shallow fry the cutlets on medium heat on both sides. 
Shallow fry on both sides til they turn golden brown. Add oil bit by bit as needed. Once done, set them aside on a plate lined with kitchen towel to drain the excess oil. 
Serve hot alongside some chai! Oh this one was divine, crunchy on the outside & soft on the insides and of course, spicy just the way we like it:).
