Veggie cutlets

Confession for the day – I made this recipe 2 weeks back but never got around to posting it. I have posted 2 other recipes I made after this. I am quite sure the reason for that is my love for those 2 food items over and above this! One of our good family friends (and family) had come over for lunch and MIL wanted to make some fried item (obvious right, there had to be some fried goodness like vada or something when you are having people over) and I told her we’ll try cutlets. Told her we’ll try and bake it as opposed to frying it thereby adding a health twist to it. Cutlets would be a healthy food item if it weren’t for all the frying considering its mostly all veggies in it. I was making them under the expertise of mil and I must say they turned out really really good. To me, what sets her recipe apart from the rest I have seen online is her additional step of sautéing the garlic, chillis, onions and the masalas. DO NOT miss this step. Just trust me on that! I also think swapping the traditional garam masala for pav bhaji masala was an excellent idea though I must admit that the only reason I did it that day, was cos of lack of garam masala at home.

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Veggie cutlets

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

40 mins

Passive Time

4 hrs

 

Course: Starters

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 10 pieces

Ingredients

• 1 large-ish potato
• 1/2 stacked cup peas
• 1/2 stacked cup beans
• 1/2 stacked cup carrot
• 2 nos onions
• 6-7 pods garlic (indian variety) 1.5t when finely chopped/ grated
• 2 tsp pav bhaji masala
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 nos bread slices or 1/4c bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp bread crumbs for coating
• 3-4 tbsp oil for pan frying

Instructions

1. Prep work - Wash & chop the veggies. Peel the onion & garlic, chop it finely & set it aside.

2. Place the chopped veggies (except onion & garlic) in a vessel, add 3/4t salt.

3. Pressure cook the veggies in a cooker for 5-6 whistles.

4. Let the pressure release normally, and then mash the veggies.

5. Heat a heavy bottom pan with some oil, add garlic and sauté till it starts to brown.

6. Add finely diced onion & saute till it gets transparent.
7. Add red chilli powder, pav bhaji masala powder, salt and saute for a few mins.

8. Add the mashed vegetables to this pan now and mix well. This step helps because to remove any excess water that's in the veggies.

9. Turn off the heat and let the veggie mixture cool down.

10. Once the mixture is cooled down, roughly tear bread pieces and mix it well into the veggie mixture.

11. Make patties/ cutlets to a desired shape with the mixture.

12. Coat the patties with bread crumbs.

13. Pan/ Shallow fry each of the patty/ cutlet in a heavy bottom flat pan (I use my lodge pan) till both sides are nice and brown on the outside.

14. Drain excess oil on a kitchen towel and the cutlets are ready.

Recipe Notes

1. You can add beets to the veggie mixture. 
2. You could add onion & garlic to pressure cook but over the years I have realised this way gives the best taste. 
3. Highly recommend the use of pav bhaji masala instead of garam masala :). 
4. You can add 1 finely chopped green chilli along with garlic for some extra spice. 
5. If you find the veggie mixture too wet, you could add some more bread/ bread crumbs. 
6. If you plan to make this ahead, do not add bread/ bread crumbs till you are ready to pan fry. 
7. you can deep fry/ oven bake this as well. I find pan frying the easiest and it's healthy too. So win-win. 
8. You can make the cutlets, coat with bread crumbs and then freeze them. The way I freeze them is I place the cutlets in a plate for 15 mins in the freezer and then place it in ziploc covers.