Vegetable Bread Cutlets

Cutlet is nothing but a fried patty of chopped vegetables coated with breadcrumbs. Usually cutlets are deep fried in oil. Since health is a factor that everyone is concerned about, the below cutlet dish is prepared by shallow frying it in tawa / griddle using very less oil. It is good appetizer and can be served with sauce.

Ingredients:



Potato - 2 medium size

Bread - 4 nos

Mixture of beans,carrot and green peas - 1 cup,finely chopped

Ginger paste - 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste - 1 teaspoon

Green chillies - 1 chopped finely

Salt - To taste

Asafoetida - a pinch

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Coriander leaves - 2 strings, finely chopped

Red chili powder - 1 teaspoon

Bread crumbs - 1 cup

All purpose flour/Maida - 3 tablespoon

Oil - For frying



Method:



1) Cook potatoes in a pressure cooker. Once cooked and the pressure completely subsides, open the cooker lid and immediately drain the water. Let  the potatoes to cool down.

2) Peel the skin of the potato and mash it well using a steel masher or by Hand.

3) Cook / Microwave the finely chopped vegetable mixture. Then mash them well.

4) Make sure the vegetable mixture is dry. If not squeeze the excess water using a plain cloth keeping the vegetable mixture inside.

5) Cut the four corners of the bread and crush them well.

6) Take a Frying pan and heat oil in it.

7) Add cumin seeds. Once the seeds start to splutter, add green chilies, ginger garlic paste, asafoetida, coriander leaves, mixture of vegetables and red chili powder.

8) Mix well and turn off the flame. Now add the mashed potato along with the crushed bread.

9) Mix all the ingredients in the pan. Mix it well.

10) Equally partition the mixture into uniform round shapes with approx one inch thickness (like a pie or pasty). Keep it aside.

11) Take maida in a bowl and prepare batter by adding little water. Dilute it to a medium range thickness. 

12) Take breadcrumbs in a wide plate.

13) Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in tawa.

14) Once the oil is hot, dip the pasty / patty into batter and roll the pasty / patty in breadcrumbs. Make sure the patty is covered by breadcrumbs on all the sides.

15) Place it in a tawa for frying. Keep the flame in low level and ensure that it is not over burnt.

16) After few seconds flip it and allow it to cook on the other side.

17) Repeat this for remaining pasties.

18) Healthy Vegetable cutlet is ready. Serve it with spicy sauce or chutney.

Simple Egg Curry

Nowadays, egg has become a day-to-day ingredient in our menu. Eggs are a good source of amino acid and rich in proteins. The below curry recipe uses boiled egg. People who don't like yolk can remove them easily and consume only the white portion.

 

Ingredients:



Egg - 2 nos,

Onion - 1 small, finely chopped

Tomato - 1 large size, finely chopped

Red chilly powder - 1 teaspoon

Sambar powder - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Salt - To taste

Mustard seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 1 string

Method:



1) Boil eggs and slice them into two pieces.

2) Take a pan and heat oil in it.

3) Add mustard seeds and allow the seeds to pop up.   

4) Add curry leaves. Add onions and saute them till onions turn translucent.

5) Add tomato and saute them well until they are completely mashed.

6) Once sauteing is complete, add Masala powder and Red chili powder

7) Add salt to taste and turmeric powder. Add little water and allow the contents to boil.

8) When it starts to boil, add the boiled eggs to it and stir the contents slowly.

9) Allow it to boil again for 5 minutes.Turn off the flame when the gravy becomes thick.

10) Simple instant Egg Curry is ready to be served.

Ven Pongal / White Pongal

Ven Pongal (White pongal) is a traditional south Indian breakfast served at many homes and restaurants. Though many ingredients are added to the dish, still the dish retains the white colour of the rice. Perhaps this is one of the reason it is called as Ven Pongal / White pongal.

Ingredients:



Raw rice / Pacharisi - 1 cup

Moong dal - 1/2 cup

Pepper corns - 1 teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon

Pepper powder - 1 teaspoon

Green chili - 1 no

Curry leaves - 1 string

Ghee/Butter - 1.5 tablespoons

Cashew Nuts - 8 nos

Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Method:



1) Mix the Rice and Moong dal and wash it well. Empty this into a pressure cooker.

2) Add 3.5 cups of water, salt, cumin seeds and pepper powder.

3) Allow it to cook and wait for 3 whistles. Wait for the pressure to escape out slowly.

4) Now, take a frying pan and heat ghee/butter.

5) Add green chili, curry leaves, cashew nuts and asafoetida.

6) Mix it well with the rice in the cooker.

7) Voila! Ven pongal is now ready to be served.

8) Serve with coconut chutney and sambar.

Note:

1) Adding ghee will give nice aroma and taste to the pongal, so I always prefer to add ghee to pongal.

2) I like thick consistency for my pongal, so I mostly follow 1:2 for rice and water quantity. If you need little watery consistency, then add 4 cups of water for the mentioned rice and dal quantity here.