Mixed Vegetable Cutlets

Lucknow city has a place in my heart as there is where I grew up and socialised to the utmost!The food,Nawabi culture and legacy from the Mughal rulers of Awadh to the British have made the city a variety of sorts!In the advent of the 60’s and 70’s (when my mother was growing up),the city saw a small number of restaurants simple but classy being set up for the middle class to enjoy the tastes of!I was an 80’s baby so remember some to which I was taken as a toddler!They were Quality’s under Mayfair Cinema (both closed as of now),Ranjana (near the Zoo – closed again), Flying Fox neat Hazratganj and India Coffee House which stocked wonderfully aromatic,creamy Espresso Coffee which was prepared under the hissing steam of the machine,sprinkled with cocoa powder and sugar which we as children loved to drink!

For this recipe I am talking about Quality’s Restaurant which housed the best cutlets in town!My cutlets are smaller in shape but with the same delicious taste!I remember when I was maybe 6 or 7 years old,I watched Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Mayfair Cinema and immediately went to Quality Restaurant below to have these delicious Mixed Vegetable Cutlets with Green Chutney and Ketchup,Veg Chowmein (the rage of Lucknow in the late 80’s and early 90’s) and tea for elders while I was given delicious Masala Milk!I sometimes wonder why have we made life so complicated by having so many modified food items on one feeble menu list?Why do we not reverse back to the simplicity we had 2 decades ago rather than beat about the bush with our newly fangled ideas and unpalatable food (which is called diet – Paleo,Zone,South Beach bla bla Wow!.).People are deprived from the diet they were bought up on and become irritated and psycho while depriving their body of various essential nutrients and then the vicious cycle continues!I do not want to emphasise further on this and will directly go to this delicious recipe!Please understand that when we feel to have something which is termed as a “bad food” in today’s world,please go ahead,make it and have it!There is nothing as “bad food” while not exercising and toning the body is definitely a “bad habit”!

Preparation Time : 1 hour

Makes : 8 – 11 Cutlets

INGREDIENTS

For the Vegetable Cutlets :

2 Medium Potatoes – boiled,peeled and mashed

1/2 cup mixed boiled/steamed vegetables – Carrots,Peas and Beans

2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Green Chilli Paste/2 Green Chillies – finely minced

1 tsp Coriander Powder (dhaniya)

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 Onion – finely chopped

1 cup breadcrumbs/2 bread slices – crusts removed, soaked in water and squeezed till dry

Oil for deep frying

For the first coating :

2 tbsp flour (maida)

1/3 cup water

For the second coating :

1 cup breadcrumbs

METHOD

Boil vegetables – Place potatoes and mixed vegetables in a pressure cooker with 1 tsp salt and pressure cook for 2 – 3 whistles.Bring down the pressure and peel the Potatoes.Mash them in a bowl and add the rest of the steamed vegetables.Add salt,green chilli paste,coriander and garam masala powders,chopped Onion and 1 cup of breadcrumbs.Mix well till very well amalgamated.Make egg shaped cutlets,croquettes or place some cutlet mixture in a heart shaped cookie mould and make heart shaped cutlets.Arrange separately in a plate.

Mix the first coating – the flour and water thoroughly and keep this as well as the extra cup of breadcrumbs ready for frying the cutlets.

Heat Oil in a pan on medium low.When sufficiently hot dip each cutlet in the flour -water slurry.Then immediately take out and place in the 1 cup of breadcrumbs and roll so that the breadcrumbs coat the cutlets.

Deep fry each cutlet on medium heat till golden brown and crisp.Take out on an absorbent paper.Serve warm with chutney,ketchup or any dip you like!