Quinoa Cutlets / Quinoa Patties

The last post on vegetable cutlets serves as a nice segue for this particular recipe. Quinoa is the current coolest ingredient in everybody's pantry. It tastes good, is healthy, and can be easily incorporated as a substitute for rice in Indian cooking. Last week, I came across this recipe for quinoa cakes and I was immediately inspired to try it at home. So, here is my adapted version of quinoa cutlets. If I didn't tell you what the main ingredient in the cutlet was, you would never guess (in a blind taste-test, of course). It tastes very much like potato-veggie cutlet!

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups cooked  quinoa (cook quinoa as you would rice with 2 cups of water per cup of quinoa)
2. 4.5 tablespoons yogurt
3. 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
4. 3 cloves of garlic, minced
5. 1 cup green peas, almost cooked
6. 1 teaspoon of salt (or depending on taste)
7. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
8. 1 teaspoon curry powder / garam masala powder
9. 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
10. 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves / cilantro
11. 2 - 3 cups bread crumbs
12. a few tablespoons olive oil for shallow frying

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, add the cooked (and cooled) quinoa. Fluff it up slightly with a fork. Add yogurt and mix well. The yogurt acts as a binding agent and can be added as a substitute to eggs. 
2. Next, add the spices - turmeric, curry powder / garam masala powder, and salt. Mix well. 
3. Mix in the chopped onion, garlic, and peas. 
4. Gently stir in the cheese and coriander leaves
5. Finally add 1 cup of bread crumbs and stir well. The breadcrumbs also acts as a binding agent. Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes and then touch it to see if it's moist. If it's moist, add some breadcrumbs until you can make patties that hold their shape. I tired a batch without adding breadcrumbs to the mixture and they didn't hold their shape while frying/serving. So, do not ignore this step.
6. Once the mixture is ready, prepare to shallow fry 
• Prepare 1/2 inch - 1 inch thick patties
• Coat the top and bottom of the patties in breadcrumbs 
• Heat 1.5 - 2 tablespoons of oil in a shallow frying pan. When hot, place 4-5 patties in the pan and fry on medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the bottom is golden brown/crisp. Gently flip the patties and crisp the other side. Remove and drain on paper towels.
• Replenish the pan with a little more oil and repeat forming and frying the patties. 

 Serve with ketchup/chutney of your choice. They are obviously best had when hot and right from the pan. And a few cutlets also serve as a filling meal.

Vegetable Cutlets / Vegetable Patties

This week’s resolution is to try and write up some of the many pending backlogs of dishes prepared more than a year ago. The TBW folder is growing tired of my additions, and I’m afraid I’ll forget the recipe or even what the pictures represent. For instance, I glanced by one of the below pictures and briefly wondered what it was.

Anyway, here is my take on a very common and popular appetizer - vegetable cutlets. Boiled, mashed potatoes form the main ingredient here. It is spiced and mixed with other cooked vegetables, made into patties, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried! How can it not taste good. Since everyone is paranoid of deep-frying these days, I tried shallow frying the cutlets on a wide and shallow frying pan. It consumes far less oil and tastes almost as good as deep frying.

Ingredients (serves 4 hungry people):

1. 4 medium-sized boiled potatoes, peeled and mashed
2. 1 - 1.5 cups worth mixed vegetables - finely chopped carrots, beans, bell-pepper, corn, and green peas
3. 1 onion, finely chopped
4. 1 teaspoon grated ginger
5. 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
6. ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
7. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
8. 1 teaspoon coriander powder
9. ½ teaspoon chilli powder
10. 1.5 teaspoons pav bhaji masala / garam masala
11. 1.25 teaspoons salt or as needed
12. ¼ cup coriander leaves / cilantro
13. juice of half a lemon
14. 2 cups (or more) bread crumbs
15. 3 tablespoons yogurt
16. A few tablespoons of vegetable oil (for shallow frying)

Preparation:

1. Boil the potatoes, peel them and mash them as best as you can (no need for a fancy gadget) and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium heat. Add fennel seeds and cumin seeds and wait for them to sizzle. When they do, add the onions and saute till they turn translucent. Next, add the grated ginger and fry for a few seconds.
3. Next add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and pav bhaji / garam masala and fry for a few seconds. Be careful not to let the spices burn.
4. Add the chopped vegetables and salt saute on medium heat for 5 minutes. Then, with the lid closed, continue to cook the vegetables until they are tender and almost cooked.
5. Add the cooked and spiced vegetables to the mashed potatoes and using your hand (or a good spatula) mix  everything together.  Taste and adjust for seasonings. Finally, add some chopped cilantro and some lemon juice and give it another gentle mix.
6. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a shallow and wide frying pan. As the oil heats, assemble the following:
1. Dilute the yogurt in ⅓  cup of water and whisk well. Pour it into a wide cup
2. Spread the bread crumbs onto a plate
3. Start making 1/2 - 1 inch thick patties (discs) of the prepared vegetable mixture. Wet your hand with a little water or oil if the patties stick.
7. Test if the oil is hot by dropping a small amount of the vegetable mixture. If it begins frying, it’s ready. Maintain the temperature at medium-low to medium.
8. Start shallow frying the patties:
1. This step is optional. If your patty is already moist because of the potatoes, just roll them in the bread crumbs. Else, gently dip the front and back of the patty in the diluted yogurt. Do not dunk it, gently coat the sides with the yogurt to wet the patty so that the bread crumbs stick to it.  The patty should not be dripping wet and sloppy, it should just be made moist.
2. Roll the patty in the bread crumbs and dust off the excess crumbs, if any.
3. Place the patty on the hot oil and fry each side for about 5-7 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan, fry no more than 4 patties at a time. Gently flip them to evenly fry both sides. If needed, add a teaspoon of oil to each batch so that the patties don’t burn.
4. Drain the fried patties/cutlets on paper towels and serve hot.

If you are not a fan of even shallow frying the cutlets, then you can alternatively bake them. I have tried baking them a few times, but I have to say that they (obviously) don’t taste as good as frying. For one, they  somehow seem longer to prepare and the bread crumbs (along the circumference of the cutlets) remain raw. But if you would like to bake, here’s what you need to do:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 425 F. Wrap a sheet tray with aluminum foil. Place the prepared patties (coated in some diluted yogurt and bread crumbs only on the front and back) on the sheet tray.
2. If you want, you can drop ¼  teaspoon of oil on top of each patty so they crisp well. Else, just place them in the center of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until one of the sides is browned. Then gently flip all the patties, add a bit of oil on each patty (optional), and bake for another 10-20 minutes until the other side is also browned.

As you can tell from the pictures, I used very little oil to pan fry the cutlets, so the crumbs are not evenly and completely golden brown. But they still taste good.

These cutlets go well with tomato ketchup and any spicy, tangy dip.

Kothamalli / Cilantro Thokku

Cilantro is such a flavorful and aromatic herb. Although it's mostly used to garnish and season Indian dishes, it can also be used to prepare a tart and spicy dish that can be used a side-dish. Thokku can be used as a dip and even as a spread on breads.

If any of you are familiar with, or are fans of Grand Sweets' Kothamalli thokku and have been trying to replicate it at home, look no further! My mother-in-law has outdone herself with this thokku recipe. The thokku tastes very much like the popular one!

Ingredients (yields about 1 - 1.5 cups):

1. A big bunch of cilantro / coriander leaves (as purchased from the store and amounting to about 4 cups). Remove half of the stalks (the tough ends), not the whole. The stalks are equally flavorful.
2. 1/2 inch ball of tamarind
3. 3 tablespoons ulutham paruppu / split urad dhal / split black gram dhal
4. 4-5 dry red chillies
5. ⅓ cup sesame oil
6. 2 teaspoons salt
7. 1.5 - 2 teaspoons hing / asafoetida
8. 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
9. 2 teaspoons jaggery / brown sugar

Preparation:

1. In a tablespoon of oil, fry the ulutham paruppu / split black gram, hing and red chillies until the dhal turns golden. Remove from oil.
2. Wash the cilantro (no need to cut) and towel dry slightly. Add the cilantro to the residual oil in the pan from step 1. Saute the cilantro on medium-heat until it wilts. Then add tamarind to the residual heat and stir.
3. When cool, grind everything from steps 1 and 2 along with salt, to a smooth thick paste by just sprinkling water as required
4. In the same pan, heat the remaining sesame oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and add the ground paste and keep stirring on low-medium heat. Halfway through the cooking process (in about 5 - 10 minutes), add the jaggery and brown sugar and continue stirring until the thokku comes together as a mass and leaves the sides of the pan. If needed, add more oil as the thokku cooks to avoid it from sticking to the pan. The more oil you add, the more the thokku will absorb and fry for longer resulting a much deeper greenish-brown shade.
5. Remove from heat, let it cool, then transfer to a clean, dry, air-tight jar. Refrigerate to maximize shelf life.

 

Now this thokku tastes very similar to the Grand Sweets' one. However, the Grand Sweet's version has twice the amount of tamarind used in this recipe, a little more salt, and way more oil. A comparative taste-test reveals how much tamarind has gone into the Grand Sweets'  version! So if you are looking to get the exact taste of the packaged thokku, use more tamarind, oil, and salt. In my opinion, the recipe listed here retains and highlights the flavor of the coriander leaves as opposed to the packaged one that masks the taste of the herb with its liberal use of tamarind. While both versions taste really good, you can adjust the proportions of tamarind and salt to arrive at a version that you like.  Also, since this thokku is not meant to be stored for a long period of time, the conservative amount of oil used in this recipe is sufficient.

Mixed Vegetable Gothsu

Gothsu is a tart and spicy side-dish that's usually prepared with tamarind and moong dhal. My mother-in-law and mom prepare a slightly different version (than mine) with plenty of vegetables, no dhal, and some extra spices that taste really good, so I'm recording their recipe here.

Ingredients:

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil / vegetable oil
2. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3. 1.5 teaspoons kadala paruppu / bengal gram dhal
4. 1 teaspoon minced ginger
5. 2 green chillies, chopped
6. few curry leaves
7. 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
8. ¼ teaspoon hing
9. 1 onion, finely chopped
10. 1.5 inch ball of tamarind
11. 1 tomato, finely chopped
12. 1 potato, chopped
13. 2 red/yellow bell peppers, seeded and chopped
14. 1 small eggplant, chopped
15. 1 - 1.5 teaspoons salt, according to taste
16. Spice powder
1. 1.5 teaspoons kadala paruppu / bengal gram dhal
2. 2 dry red chillies
3. 2.5 teaspoons coriander seeds / dhania

Preparation:

1. To prepare the spice powder:
1. Dry roast the bengal gram dhal, red chillies and coriander seeds until they release their aroma and the dhal just begins to change color. Cool, and grind to a slightly coarse powder.
2. Extract tamarind juice:
1. Soak the tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes. Then, extract the juice by squeezing the soft pulp. Strain the juice. Repeat the process with lukewarm water and squeeze out more juice until the tamarind is dry. Throw the tamarind residue and reserve the extract/juice.
3. In a medium sauce-pan, heat the oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, then add bengal gram dhal, curry leaves, and hing. Fry for a few seconds. Then add ginger and green chillies and saute for a few seconds.
4. Add onions and saute on medium-heat until it turns translucent.
5. Add tomatoes and saute until it begins to cook.
6. Add the remaining vegetables and saute for about 5 minutes. Add salt and turmeric powder, mix well, and close the pan to allow the vegetables to cook. Check and stir periodically.
7. After 10 minutes of cooking the vegetables, add the tamarind extract and a little more water if needed (to dilute) and continue to cook with the pan closed.
8. When the vegetables are cooked and the raw tamarind smell is absent, reduce the heat to low, add the prepared spice powder (from step 1) and let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.

When everything is incorporated remove from heat and serve with rice, pongal, upma, or roti.

Rava Kesari

Rava Kesari is one of the most common and popular desserts in South India. It is often prepared as an offering (prasad) to the Gods. It's easy to prepare and tastes rich and decadent. Kesari is surely a simple and classic Indian dessert. 

The recipe below is for the most classic and traditional Rava Kesari.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup fine or semi-fine rava / sooji
2. 3 cups water or equal amounts of milk for a richer, creamier version
3. 2  cups sugar
4. ¼ cup ghee (or slightly less)
5. ½ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom
6. few strands of saffron
7. few cashews and raisins

Preparation:

1. With a teaspoon of ghee fry the cashews and raisins until the raisins plump and the cashews turn golden. Remove from ghee and strain on paper towels.
2. With the residual ghee from above, fry the rava on low-medium heat until it just begins to change color. Immediately remove from heat and transfer from the pan.
3. Bring the water or milk (if using) to a rolling boil. If using milk, add saffron to the hot milk so that its flavor infuses better.
4. Reduce the heat to low and slowly add the rava to the hot water/milk constantly stirring it to avoid lumps. Keep stirring on low heat until the rava cooks and comes together as a thick mass without any water.
5. Then, add sugar and keep stirring with remaining ghee until the rava leaves the sides of the pan and comes together. Remove from heat.
6. Garnish with cardamom, saffron, and the fried nuts and raisins. Mix well and serve. 

 Kesari stores well for a few days in the fridge. 

Spiced Plaintain Powder / Vazhakkai Podi

South Indians love plantains because they are surplus in our tropical climate. They taste excellent when mildly spiced with chillies, dhals/grains, and coconut. There are several ways in which plantain is spiced and prepared, but this particular recipe that comes from my in-laws is the most unique of them all. This was the first time I even heard of it, so to me it is unique indeed. The plantains are roasted/broiled, then peeled and grated and mixed with a mixture of ground spices. Interesting, isn't it?

the spiced powder

Ingredients:

1. 2 plantains
2. 3 tablespoons thoor dhal / thuvaram paruppu
3. 1.5 tablespoons ulutham paruppu / split black gram dhal
4. ½ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
5. 1 teaspoon salt or as needed
6. 3 dry red chillies
7. 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

1. Brush the plantains with olive oil and broil them for 10-15 minutes until they are blackened on the outside and not too soft or tender to the touch. They should hold their shape to be grated. If you don't own an oven, roast the plantain (coated with some oil) over a low flame.
2. Allow them to cool, then peel and grate them on the larger side of a box grater. 
3. Meanwhile, dry roast the thoor dhal, split black gram dhal, hing, and chillies on medium heat until the dhals begin to change color. Let them cool and then grind along with salt to a slightly coarse powder. 
4. Without removing the spice mixture from the blender/grinder, add the grated plantain and mix everything together by pulsing just a couple of times. Do not try to over grind because the plantain would lump and stick to the blender. 

That's it. The spiced plantain powder is ready. A couple of spoons of it is mixed with some rice and some sesame oil/ghee to make a flavored/spiced rice. It tastes really good - almost like thengai (coconut) podi. The podi doesn't have a long shelf-life because of the cooked plantain. It stores well in the fridge for a few days, though.

Kunukku

Kunukku is a deep fried nugget of spiced lentils and rice. It's kind of like vadai, but the proporition of ingredients are slightly different. Usually, left over vadai batter is utilized to make kunukku. It's crunchy, crispy, and an easy to prepare fritter/starter. 

 Ingredients:

1. ½ cup kadala paruppu / bengal gram dhal
2. ½ cup thuvaram paruppu / thoor dhal
3. ¼ cup rice
4. ¼ cup ulutham paruppu / split black gram dhal
5. 2-3 dry red chillies
6. 1 teaspoon salt, or according to taste
7. ¼ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
8. about 4 cups vegetable oil
9. some curry leaves

Preparation:

1. Soak the bengal gram dhal, thoor dhal, split black gram dhal, rice, and red chillies for 1 hour. Strain the water and coarsely grind everything with about 2 tablespoons of water (or slightly more if needed) to prepare the batter. The batter's consistency should be the same as vadai batter - thick and moist. A slightly coarse batter would result in crispy fritters. 
2. To the batter, mix hing, salt, and curry leaves. 
3. Heat oil in a cast-iron pot on medium-high heat. Check if the oil is hot by dropping a little bit of batter. If it immediately sizzles and rises to the top, the oil is hot. Maintain the oil temperature by adjusting the heat between medium and medium-high. 
4. Pick up small nuggets of the batter and drop carefully into the oil. Do not overcrowd the pot with more than 5 kunukkus. Fry until crispy and golden brown. 
5. Remove the kunukkus and drain on paper towels. 

 Serve with ketchup or sauce. Just the plain crispy kunukkus is great with tea/coffee.  
 

Mixed Fruit & Vegetable Pickle

Where will we Indians be without our pickles? Spiced preserves are one of our unique specialties. Almost any fruit and vegetable can be spiced and preserved to be tongue-clicking-ly good! 

In lieu of tart green mangoes, we used tart Granny Smith apple along with carrots, lemon and ginger! Thanks to my in-laws for making this awesome pickle. We have been going at it as if it were regular curry! An entire bottle of pickle is fast disappearing - that's how awesome it is! Highly recommended, and not to mention, extremely simple to prepare.

Ingredients:

1. 2 carrots, peeled and sliced into small pieces
2. 1 Granny Smith apple, finely chopped
3. ¼ cup finely chopped ginger
4. 1 lemon, finely chopped
5. 1/3 cup sesame oil
6. 3 - 4 teaspoons chilli powder
7. 5 - 6 teaspoons salt
8. 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
9. 1 teaspoon methi / vendhayam / fenugreek seeds
10. ½ teaspoon hing / asafoetida
11. 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

Preparation:

1. Cut the vegetables and fruits into small pieces/slices. Take a clean, dry jar and keep ready. 
2. Layer the veggies & fruits in the jar. That is, add carrots into the jar, then add some salt. On top of it, add the chopped apple and then salt. Repeat until all the veggies & fruits are put into the jar with a layer of salt in between. 
3. Now add turmeric powder to the jar and mix everything. Next, add chilli powder and mix well. Shake and stir to mix everything. 
4. On medium heat, dry roast the fenugreek seeds with hing. Allow to cool and grind to a smooth powder (mortar and pestle works well to do this). 
5. Add the fenugreek-hing powder to the pickle and mix well. 
6. Heat sesame oil in a pan. When hot, splutter mustard seeds. Add this to the pickle in the jar. Mix well. 
7. Close the jar tightly and let the pickle sit at room temperature for about 1 week, stirring/mixing everyday. This helps the pickle to marinate well and absorb the spices and become soft and yummy. If you live in a humid and hot place, do not keep the pickle at room temperature for more than 3 days, or check periodically to make sure it doesn't turn bad. When the pickle is marinated, store in the fridge. We started using the pickle within a couple of days and it was still very good!

This pickle is crunchy, tasty, and an all-round side-dish!