Beetroot Cutlets

Vegetable Cutlet (or Veg Chop as we fondly call them) is a quintessential accompaniment with a strong cup of  evening “chai” in most Bengali households.

Beetroot is the star of the dish! It not only lends the smoothest of textures and a superb earthy taste but it’s also pleasing to look at the gorgeous ruby red colour.

These cutlets are healthy too – a sneaky way to add quite a number of veggies into kids meals without making it taste boring; a trick my Mom used for so many years (Clever, Maa!).

 

The things needed

Makes 8-10 cutlets

• 2 Tablespoon Canola Oil
• Finely Chopped
  • 1″ Ginger
  • 1 tablespoon Garlic
  • 2 Green Chillies
  • 1 Red Onion
• Grated
  • 1 large beetroot
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1/2 cup cabbage

• 1 Boiled potato
• 1/2 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1 bunch of coriander (optional)
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 tablespoon amchur powder
• 1 tablespoon chaat masala
• Salt and sugar (as per taste)

 

For Batter

• 1 cup of water
• 3-4 tablespoons bread flour
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs (for coating)

 

How I made it

In heated oil, added the chopped ginger, garlic, onion, green chillies and sautéd it for few minutes till the onions turned transparent.

After that, added the grated vegetables and cooked it for sometime before adding the spices.

Next, after 4-5 minutes of cooking the vegetables, added the boiled and mashed potato, coriander, salt and breadcrumbs. Mixed everything together.

Turned off the heat and let the veggie mixture cool down, before shaping them into flat balls.

Once done, then dipped the balls into the batter and rolled them out in the Panko breadcrumbs and shallow fried them (I do feel less guilty) over medium heat  till golden brown. Baking is the healthiest option.

And this is what it looked like:

These spicy and crispy cutlets go amazingly well with green mint and coriander chutney and a hot cup of tea!

I do agree these can be a bit time consuming to prepare when entertaining friends and family but a neat hack is to make these beforehand and to keep frozen. All you then need to do is fry them (or pop them into the oven 220 degs C for  approx 15-18 mintues) just before the guests arrive.

Hope you have some great conversations with your friends over tea and veg cutlets.

Rhea xx