Beet root, potatoes and peas tikki / cutlets

It has been many months since my last post. A friend rightly pointed out that it’s that perfectionist attitude in me which is causing this inertia – I want the food to be perfect and the photographs to be styled and taken well (to the best of my ability!) However, to get all these things together, requires a lot of time and patience. With an extremely active 3 year old in the house, time is one luxury I don’t have.

As a result, I have been cooking and experimenting at home but unfortunately, I haven’t been able to post anything for the past few months. I feel a little selfish at this point so I definitely owe you all an apology. Many of you have been supportive over these past few months of silence – either by checking on me or by just by being connected through images that I have been posting on my facebook page (http://facebook.com/sublimepalate). A big thank you for that and sorry for being MIA.

So, I have decided to give that perfectionist in me a sorta break..  And post recipes and stories .. even though sometimes the pictures may not be perfect.. the recipes may…  – NO,  be rest assured – there will be no compromise on that front!:-) These photos are taken from my phone, so please excuse me if they aren’t nice enough.

So, starting off again, here’s a recipe of a healthy snack, I read on one of my favorite blogs, sinfully spicy.  This is a great snack for kids and adults alike! I took a portion of the tikki mix to make 3 tikkis for V. To the remaining portion, I added finely chopped green chillies.It is inspired by Tanvi’s beetroot tikkis. Ever since I saw that, I just had to make it! So for Tanvi’s recipe, check : http://sinfullyspicy.com/2012/06/27/beetroot-tikki/

Thank you Tanvi for this amazing snack! 🙂

Here’s how I made it:

MAKES 8 tikkis / cutlet:

You’ll need:

Beetroot: 1 medium sized
Potato: 1 small sized
Peas: 1 cup. Boil if using fresh. I used frozen peas and microwaved with a tiny pinch of salt for 2-3 mins to soften it so that it’s easy to mash.
Onion: 1 small size (or roughly 1/2 a cup of finely chopped onion)
Ginger: 1 small pc (adjust to your taste)
Garlic: 1-2 cloves
Green chillies – 2-3
Black pepper powder – 1 tsp (preferably coarsely powdered)
Bread crumbs – 4 heaped tbsp. (If you don’t have bread crumbs, use a slice of bread. Gently soften it by sprinkling a little water and mashing it separately first and then adding it to the mix).
Semolina (Suji) – 3 tbsp or more for coating the tikkis.
Oil – 1-2 tbsp.

Preparation:

  1. Boil the potato so that they are cooked but firm. A little undercooked is fine but mushy potatoes may not bind the mix that well.
  2. Finely chop onions, ginger, garlic and the green chillies.
  3. Finely grate beetroots. Squeeze out the juice by hand. Drink the juice (It was yum .. I strained it and had it without adding anything. But I think a squeeze of lime should go very well). Anyhow, coming back to the grated beetroots, keep it in aside and move on.
  4. Peel and finely grate the boiled potato. If you are brave, try grating it while it is hot! Just kidding – DON’T ! I almost burnt my palm. The inside of the potato retains a lot of heat so it’s advisable to take a little break and grate them when they have cooled off.
  5. Mash the softened peas.
  6. Start working on the next step (mixing) only before you need to make the tikkis. The salt releases a lot more moisture and makes it difficult to bind.
  7. In a mixing bowl, add the grated potatoes, beets, mashed peas, onions, ginger, garlic, bread crumbs, black pepper powder, chaat masala & finally the salt. Gently combine this mix without mixing it too much! The more you mix, the more moisture gets released and your tikkis won’t hold together.
  8. Make small cutlets / tikkis with this mix (oval or round shape can work). With this quantity, I ended up with 8 tikkis.
  9. In a flat plate, keep the semolina. Very gently press the tikki on the semolina mix to coat the tikki with the semolina.
  10. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan. I fried about 3 per batch in a small non-stick pan. Add more oil when frying the next batch, if needed. Make sure the oil is hot before you add the tikkis. On low heat, fry the tikkis for a few minutes on each side until crisp on the outside. Be gentle when turning the tikkis. If the heat is low, cook for a little longer to get a crispy outside while making sure the inside is cooked.
  11. I had these with my go-to green chutney!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Author: Sublime Palate

food and thoughts...

15 thoughts on “Beet root, potatoes and peas tikki / cutlets”

  1. So glad to have you back on my email! Totally agree with everything you say about wanting to do it perfect that requires time….my two year old makes me realize that. But we missed you and would live to see you here nonetheless. Mobile apps are great these days. Girl in a food frenzy blogger Alice does it all with the camera phone. They are great.
    Healthy and beautiful tikkis. My little one might like them. 🙂

  2. I’m a reluctant beetroot-eater at the best of times, on a constant lookout for recipes that make that veggie palatable for me. This one looks fully poised to make the cut 🙂

    I’m glad you’ll be posting recipes even if you couldn’t capture the best possible pictures. Make perfect sense – in a choice between tastes good vs. looks good, one would go for the first, no ?

  3. i love cutlets, been making a lot recently . yet to try beetroot in cutlets. these look so yummy ! the pictures are just fine. you don’t have to apologize for that 😉 what matters is that the image is clear 🙂 i used yogurt in cutlets, as binder works well. i always use potatoes for binding otherwise. i chill the mix in fridge for 10-20mins before making tikkis, helps shape them better. as soon as i’m done boiling potatoes i plunge them in a bowl of ice cold water and then i peel/grate etc
    belated happy diwali 🙂

  4. Dear Sublime!
    I have missed you and hope to see you posting once again. Hope the time away has been good for the soul and body. Many hugs to you and I love beetroot and thanks for the great recipe! Sharon

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