If you love vegetarian/vegan appetizers, there are so many options out there. After all, the key to making delicious veggie packed food lies in the flavor. Veggies, on their own, may taste very bland, but spices and herbs certainly make them irresistibly scrumptious. Luckily, whether you’re after a flavorful starter idea, or just want to include more veggies in your diet, here’s an easy recipe to add to your repertoire. These vegetable cutlets or patties (or veggie cakes) is the vegetarian version of chicken cutlets. Simple veg patties get beautiful brown crispy coating making them totally irresistible. Although deep frying is the perfect way to get the crisp exterior, baking or air frying are obviously healthier options.
Vegetable Cutlet Recipe
Simply put, these are spiced deep fried veggie patties. While mashed potato acts as a binder to keep all the veggies together, play around with your favorites to create the ultimate cutlets. The best part? You can prep large batches of these patties and freeze until ready to cook. And if you want to add more flavors, serve with an easy onion salad ( traditionally called challas or sarlas) and ketchup (tomato sauce), mint chutney or even tamarind chutney. Prep the patties: The basic version is a simple combination of boiled, mashed potatoes and your favorite seasonal veggies. I have opted for bell peppers (capsicum), corn, green beans, onions, carrots and cauliflower. Make sure you chop them as fine as possible. To amp up the flavor, you will also need minced garlic, minced ginger, green chilies, coriander (cilantro) leaves and lemon juice. The fragrant spices include ground turmeric, ground cumin, red chili powder, garam masala and chat masala. Apart from potatoes, we’ll also add some breadcrumbs to keep all the ingredients together. Now, all you need is shape small patties out of the mixture. Cook veggie patties/cutlets: To keep these vegetable cutlets 100% vegetarian, I decided to dip them in cornflour slurry instead of egg wash. And then roll them in breadcrumbs before deep frying. With the cooking part, you have more options like baking or air frying. However, deep frying gives you the best texture and taste. Add a side of crunchy red onions and ketchup (tomato sauce).
More Veg Appetizer/Snack Recipes:
Vegetable Samosa Vegetable Spring Rolls Masala Pappadums Veg Puffs
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Adjust the amount of green chilies and red chili powder to increase or decrease the heat level Chat masala, a spice mix commonly used in Indian street foods, is available from Indian grocery stores While corn flour slurry makes this recipe veg, you can also use egg washIf the cutlets don’t hold their shape while frying, add a few teaspoons of breadcrumbs to the mixture Regular breadcrumbs can be substituted with panko breadcrumbs if you like. Use gluten free breadcrumbs for gluten free option. You can add chopped nuts to the veggie mixture if you likeTo freeze the cutlets, arrange breadcrumb-coated cutlets on a baking tray, freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Then, transfer to resealable freezer bags with sheets of baking paper between cutlets. Cook from frozen. You can freeze uncooked cutlets for about a month. Even though I deep fried the cutlets, these also taste great when baked or air fried.
