Valentine special, VEG CUTLET

Valentine day fever is around everywhere... Never heard of it as a child or growing up years... but now a days it is more popular than Shivaratri festival which is just around the corner. Well personally I would not celebrate it but then I don't think I would give anyone the right to tell us what to celebrate and what not. I live by my choice not in the fear of others. My way of protest to the outfits which are not allowing may not be going around with hand in hand with my valentine but then showing them the only way I do... cooking.

The other day I made vegetable cutlets, the restaurant way... dark brown in colour. always crispy. My aunt L gave me the recipe and here it is for you valentine special veg cutlets to try... the secret ingredient for the colour was a beetroot giving it the brownish rather reddish colour...
Veg Cutlets

Valentine spl veg cutlet

Ingredients

6 medium potatoes
1 cup grated beetroot
1 cup peas
1/2 cup finely chopped beans
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped capsicum
garam masala to taste
amchur powder to taste
salt to taste
Ginger-Garlic paste 1 spoon.
oil to shallow fry
breadcrumbs - two cups

Method of preparation:
Boil the potatoes and grated beetroot.Keep them aside.Boil the peas,beans and carrots separately with a pinch of salt.
In a kadai add two spoons of oil. When hot add ginger- garlic paste. let the paste turn brown and add capsicum,saute for a few minutes and add the garam masala powder.

Meanwhile mash the potatoes and mix with the beetroot well.
Add the boiled peas, carrots and beans. let it cook in the masala for a while. Now add the potato - beetroot mix. Add salt and amchoor powder to taste. Mix well with the other vegetables and let it cook for a while.Make sure the mixture is thick enough to make patties of desired shape. If you feel the mixture is a tad too soft. You can add some breadcrumbs and mix well while making the patties.
Make round patties and dab them generously with the breadcrumbs and shallow fry on a flat girdle/tava. Add butter/ghee/oil minimum quantity to cook it to brown colour. Alternatively they can be baked in a oven.
Enjoy with Green chutney....

Green chutney...
We did not have coriander when in Romania. It made rare appearance in the market and so we were reluctant to use it lavishly. We had to think of new ways to make do with other stuff.Even though i get lot of coriander now I am stuck with the older recipe with less coriander.. it definitely tastes good if not the same as the mint-coriander chutney usually served with snacks in the hotel..Mrs.N. cook par excellence... was a person who would not share her recipes.. but this one I was lucky she did. Thanks to her, my chutney is finger licking good.


Ingredients
one small bunch of mint.
half a bunch of coriander
one bunch of spring onions
4 to 5 green chillies
One tomato
One whole lemon.. peeled
.one inch ginger
2 cloves of garlic
chat masala - 1 spoon
cumin powder - 1 spoon
(1 capsicum and 1 kiwi fruit options if you have no coriander/mint at all it helps to give the green colour)
salt to taste

Method

Grind all of them together to a smooth paste and enjoy with anything.

Ciao,,, keep me posted how the dishes turn out. I know many of them are usual and simple but if you have a varition I could try them out and enjoy the difference!!!!