Aloo Cutlets with Green Dip

The heat is almost getting onto my nerves.., Yeow!!! Its an oven out here in Hyderabad. I hate this season where every small thing makes you frustrated and leaves you irritated., We can't go out with friends, can't shop, can't just hang around.., owww nothing!! 44 degrees centigrade is not a normal thing.. :( And I've used up 3 sun blocks over the past 15 days.., Nothing sounds good.., Hmmm moving ahead.., the recipe that I share today is a favorite recipe of mine.., I used to make these Aloo Cutlets with a lot of enthusiasm and a huge appetite as a kid.., Nowadays., I just stick to feeding them to others.., Myth has it that potato is fattening..., :D.., But kids love them., Raj loves them.., So I like making them.. I generally use the potato mixture for the Aloo paranthas to make aloo cutlets.., This time too.., I used leftovers and.., they tasted heavenly.. So here goes the recipe..,

Aloo Cutlets with Green Dip:

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4-5 medium sized potatoes,
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• Salt to taste
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp each of Cumin, Coriander and Chat Masala
• The Greens Of 3 Spring Onions, finely chopped
• 4-5 Green Chillies, Finely Chopped
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 bunch of Fresh Coriander leaves, finely Chopped
• 2 Eggs (Optional, Eggs are only used as a sealant. My mom insists on the use of eggs while making any sort of cutlet., but I strongly detest)
• Oil For Shallow Frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes with the skin on. When the potatoes are tender,peel the skins off, and transfer contents into a bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork immediately, while hot. When cool enough to handle, add red chili powder and salt and, using your hands, mix in well. Add the chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and spring onions.Mix with your hands until all ingredients are well blended. Add the coriander powder, the cumin powder, the chat masala and the lemon juice. Adjust salt and chilly powder to taste. Let the mixture stand for a few minutes. Form potato mixture into round patties about 2 1/2 inches across and 1/2 inch thick. Heat 1/2 cup of the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot, place the cutlet in the frying pan.( You can actually dip the cutlet in egg and then place it in the oil. This way you wouldn't worry about the shape of the cutlet being lost) Repeat with more cutlets, frying about four at a time, not overcrowding the pan. When browned (about 1 minute), turn the cutlets over and brown the other side. Remove from the heat, place on brown paper or paper towels to drain, and keep warm. After half the cutlets are cooked, discard the used oil, wipe out the pan, and use the remaining 1/2 cup of oil.

Green Dip/ Mint Chutney

Ingredients:

• 1/4 bunch of fresh coriander leaves
• 1 Bunch Of Fresh Mint Leaves
• 3-4 Green Chillies ( depending upon your taste)
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Plain Yogurt
• Salt to taste

Method:

Grind the Coriander leaves, the mint leaves and the green chillies along with the lemon juice to a fine paste in the mixer. Add yogurt to this mixture and stir well to blend. Add salt to taste. Transfer the contents to a serving dish.

Serve chilled with hot Aloo Cutlets... :) :) :)

Chicken 65

This is my first non-vegetarian post. I've been trying to put this up for quite some time now.., and I have about 8 posts in my drafts that have yet to see the day light.., Yeah I'm turning into quite a bum!! And just FYI I have again started to hit gym.., Only this time around, its not to gain weight., but vice versa. The personal trainer also advised me to go on a liquid diet for a week.. Contemplating.., Lets see.., So todays recipe is that of the Chicken 65. The hardcore non-vegetarian husband of mine loves this dish. I initially used to have a lot of trouble preparing this dish as it involves a whole lot of yogurt and marination and stuff.., But after say about the 5th time., I almost perfected the dish.And I tried using buttermilk (which smells as bad as the yogurt but is definitely better) instead of yogurt which sort of worked.. :) The pieces shown in the snap are a bit bigger., Raj likes them that way., but one can surely cut down on size. So here goes the recipe.., happy reading!! :)

Chicken 65

Serves - 2

Preparation Time - 30 minutes

Marination Time - 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1/2 a kg boneless chicken breast
• 1 tsp Chilly Powder
• 1/2 tsp Black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 Egg whites
• 2 tbsps Corn flour
• 2 tbsps Refined Wheat Flour/Maida
• 1 cup Butter milk / Yogurt / Curd
• 1 tbsp Ginger Paste
• 1 tbsp Garlic Paste
• 1/4 teaspoon orange food coloring
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice
• Oil for deep frying
• 4-5 Green Chillies, finely slit
• 5-6 Garlic flakes, finely chopped
• Some Curry leaves for tempering.

Method:

Cut the chicken breast into bite sized pieces. Add chilly powder, black pepper and salt to taste. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice. Cover and marinate for about 1 hour. In a bowl take these marinated Chicken pieces. Add corn flour, egg whites and the Maida. Mix properly. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Fry the Chicken pieces until they are golden brown and crispy. Do this in small batches, over medium-high heat to ensure that the chicken is cooked through. Remove from oil and set aside.

Heat two tbsps of oil in a wide frying pan and when oil is hot, add the green chillies, curry leaves and garlic pieces. Fry them a little. Later , add the garlic and ginger pastes and fry until it turns brown. Lower the heat to medium-low and add butter milk (make sure that it doesn't curdle), food coloring, and salt to taste. After two or three minutes raise the heat to medium and cook until the butter milk mixture comes to a boil. Now add the chicken pieces and stir. Raise heat to high and cook, while stirring periodically, until the liquid is fully absorbed and the meat looks dry. Transfer the contents into a serving plate and add lemon juice. Give it a quick stir. Serve as a starter :)

Veg Manchurian with Indianised Salsa

Summer vacations are on in full swing.., my place is flooded with kids of different ages.., and I am simply LOVING IT!!!Time flies so quickly when kids are around.. Their innocent talks and mischievous pranks make my day!! :D The only annoying thing about kids is that they fuss over food.. and HOW!! But not always., if you really know what would please them., then you wouldn't have any problem at all.., So yesterday., I made some "Veg Machurian" with the "Salsa Dip". The recipe is as follows...

Veg Manchurian:

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Chopped Cauliflower
• 1 cup Grated Cabbage
• 1/2 cup Grated Carrot
• 1 Spring Onion (greens) finely chopped
• 6-7 finely chopped Green chillies
• 2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 2 tsp Chopped Garlic flakes
• A pinch of Ajinomoto (optional)
• 1 tsp Vinegar
• 1 cup Maida/all purpose Flour
• 3 tsp Corn Flour
• 2 tsp Chilly sauce
• 2 tsp Tomato Ketchup
• 1 tsp Soya Sauce
• 1/2 a bunch of chopped Coriander leaves
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Method:

Boil the Cauliflower, the carrots and the cabbage till soft. Strain all the water from them (squeeze really hard :D) and then transfer them into a mixing bowl. Mash the boiled vegetables. To this mixture add half of the the ginger garlic paste,a few of the chopped green chillies, the maida, vinegar, salt and the corn flour. Add the Ajinomoto if you wish.., but try to avoid using it as much as possible. Mix properly to form a soft and thick batter. Make small, round balls ( the size of over grown cherries) from the batter and deep fry them till they turn golden brown. Strain the oil and keep the fried Manchurian balls aside. In another pan., heat 3 tbsp oil. Add the rest of the ginger garlic paste, the chopped green chillies, the chopped greens of the spring onions, Chilly sauce, Ketchup, Soya Sauce, the chopped Garlic flakes and the chopped coriander leaves. Add a drizzle of water and stir.., Now, add in the manchurian balls and shallow fry them till they are nicely coated. Remove from fire.., serve hot with the "Salsa Dip" coming up..

Salsa Dip: Well the salsa dip is generally made out of fresh tomatoes, onions, chillies and garlic flakes.., but I Choose to make my Salsa with ketchup.., for the simple fact that kids' love ketchup. My niece eats her Chapatis with Ketchup!! So here is the simple, yet yummy recipe of my version of the Salsa..

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Tomato Ketchup
• 2-3 very finely chopped green chillies
• 2-3 flakes of finely chopped Garlic
• 3 tsp chilly-Vinegar
• A few sprigs of finely chopped Coriander

Method:

To the Ketchup, add the chillies, the garlic, the coriander leaves and vinegar. Give it a light stir. Transfer the contents to a serving dish and refrigerate for half an hour. Serve chilled with Hot Manchurian Balls..

:D The kids at home loved the Manchurian.., hope you would too..,

Till next time...,

Byeeeeeeeeees.