Vegetable Cutlets

Recipe: Vegetable Cutlets

Vegetable Cutlets is a popular deep fried snack in India. It is usually made of cooked and mashed vegetables with some spices. The mixture is shaped into discs or heart shapes, coated with breadcrumbs and fried. It is usually served with some chutney and /or tomato ketchup. To make the vegetable cutlets more healthier I opted to air fry them and love the extra crispy coating without it being too oily.

 

What Is A Cutlet?

You may think that what I have described above is more like a pattie than a cutlet. Well, lets delve into this eternal confusion where certain terms or words differ in the western world from what is means in India. Cutlet in the western cuisine refers to a a flattened piece of meat that is breaded and fried. It comes from the French word ‘ cotelette’. And usually the choice of meat is veal. A small bone is left on the meat making it easier to pick and eat.

 

Cutlet And India

When it comes to India cutlet means something entirely different to what the French call cotelette. It is believed that what India knows as cutlet was probably a creation from the British Rule era. Back then there was no form of refrigeration and hanging meat to tenderize it was not an option due to the hot weather, the meat would get spoiled. The local meat was not too tender. The British women came up with the idea of mincing the meat to make it more palatable. Also using up leftovers, they taught the Indian cooks to make patties with the minced meat, cover it in breadcrumbs and then deep fry. Back then small bone piece was inserted in the patty to mimic the original cutlets. Thus began a whole new genre of cooking.

Slowly other meats, vegetables, lentils, beans were incorporated to make this crispy from outside but soft inside snack. In fact cutlets to date is a popular party, snack item all over India. Enjoyed in restaurants, canteens, as street food and in homes. It is known as chops in Bengal. Most Clubs during the British Rule served Shepherd’s Pie. Pretty soon the leftovers had a makeover into potato keema cutlets.

 

Indain Railways And Cutlets

The cutlets became popular not only with the British but the Indians too. Veggie versions were made with potatoes. They were transported to the Railway Colonies and mining towns, thus becoming a staple in the railway cuisine. Till date, you cannot miss Vegetable Cutlets at the railway stations and are also served for breakfast or tea time snack to passengers during the train journey. If you ever travel by train in India do not miss trying out their Vegetable Cutlets. They are so delicious.

 

Patties Vs Cutlets

In my opinion, when we prepare patties, we do not brush them with eggs or flour slurry and then coat them with breadcrumbs. Patties are usually left without any coating and deep or shallow fried. Cutlets on the other hand are coated with bread crumbs, giving it that extra layer of crispiness. Patties in India go by the name tikki.

 

Some Patties or Tikki Recipes

When it comes to cutlets, I have make Beetroot Cutlets which is coated with semolina instead of breadcrumbs. A popular snack that my hubby use to enjoy from a small restaurant near to his college in Mangalore.

 

Sharing Vegetable Cutlet Recipe With 2024 Alphabet Challenge Group

Gosh time is flying, can’t believe we’re on the letter V! Initial plan was to share a mushroom vol au vent recipe which I made last Christmas. However, I cannot find the photos. When it comes to letter V  we have vanilla, vermicelli, vindaloo, vegetables, vinegar, veal, Valencia oranges, Vienna sausage, vada to name a few. The next choice for me was vegetables. I had the vegetable cutlet recipe in my draft file for ages. Am happy that finally it gets to see the day of light through this wonderful group. Sharing a vegetable cutlet recipe that is popular in India and it is air fried making more healthier than the deep or shallow fried ones.

 

 

The Alphabet Challenge Journey So Far

Some Recipes With V On My Blog

 

V Recipes By Members Of  The Group

• Jolene’s Recipe Journal: Vanilla Mug Cake 
• Culinary Cam: Teriyaki Sauce-Swabbed Venison Burgers on Seeded Sourdough Buns 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Veggies Mixed Dal Khichdi 
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories: No Churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream 
• Blogghetti: Homemade Vanilla Latte
• Mayuri’s Jikoni: Vegetable Cutlets 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Vietnamese Chicken Stirfry 
• A Messy Kitchen: Tropical Vols Au Vents 
• Food Lust People Love: Spicy Vinegar Braised Chicken 
• Magical Ingredients: Val Dal Veggie Paratha 
• Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice: Sweet & Spicy Balsamic Vinegar Deviled Eggs

 

How To Serve Vegetable Cutlets

• Make them small and serve as a starter or appetizer during parties.
• Enjoy them as a hot snack option for breakfast or tea time.
• Serve it as a main meal with a generous portion of salad or baked/air fried fries.
• Use the vegetable cutlets to make vegetarian burgers.
• Cold vegetable cutlets do not remain crispy for too long but they still can be added to lunch boxes.

Ingredients Required For Vegetable Cutlets

Potatoes

Boil, peel and mash or grate the potatoes. We need about 3 cups of mashed potato. If you like you can make a mixture of potato and sweet potato, potato and plantain or potato and yam.

Mixed Vegetables

I prefer using peas, carrots, green beans, sweet corn. Add any vegetables of your choice. Either steam or boil the vegetables. If you boil the vegetables, drain out the water completely so that it does not make the cutlet mixture too moist. Use up the water for soups, stews and dals. I also add a bit of salt to the vegetables when it is boiling.

Onion

Peel and chop the onion finely. Can use any of your choice, white, red or yellow.

Fresh Coriander

Wash and chop the coriander. Add the tender stems as they are full of flavour.

Fresh Ginger

Either minced or grated.

Green Chillis

Can add finely chopped or minced. Add according to your taste.

Garam Masala

Can buy garam masala in any Indian Store or online. Or you can use  Homemade Garam Masala.

Sugar

Add a little bit to balance the flavours. Can opt to use white or brown sugar or you can add jaggery powder.

Lemon Juice

Add according to your taste.

Turmeric Powder

Hardar, haldi, add some to give you that nice natural light yellow colour.

Red Chilli Powder

Optional, add according to your taste. If the green chillis are spicy enough then I don’t add the powder.

Salt

Add according to your taste. I have use table salt.

Flour For Absorption

Can use chickpea or oats flour. Or semolina. All these absorb the excess moisture from the cutlet mixture. As a result the cutlet does not disintegrate during the cooking process.

Breadcrumbs

We need some breadcrumbs to add to the mixture and some for coating. The amount we add to the mixture will entirely depend on how moist the cutlet mixture is. Best to drain the cooked vegetables in a colander before adding to the mixture. Make the breadcrumbs at home or buy ready made. I usually bake stale bread slices at 150°C till they become crispy and dry. Allow the slices to cool and then process them into a fine crumb in a food processor.

Chickpea Flour

Also known as besan, chana atta. I like to use chickpea flour as opposed to all purpose flour to make the slurry. If you don’t have chickpea flour you can use all purpose or wheat flour.

Water

To make the slurry or thin paste.

Oil

We need little oil to brush the cutlets with so that the cutlets turn out golden brown after air frying. If you opt to shallow fry then you may need about 3-4 tbsp oil. For deep frying will need more oil. Use any vegetable or seed oil for shallow or deep frying. I like to use sunflower oil.

Chutney

Can opt for ready made chutneys or serve with tomato ketchup. I like to serve it with Garlic Tomato Chutney or with Green Chutney.

 

 

 

 

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A Small Request:

If you do try this recipe then please either

• add a comment below,
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