For a good many years while I was growing up, we lived away from my hometown Kolkata. I have talked about my dad, Baba before. He had a transferable job, which required him to be stationed away from our hometown. And this meant we were deprived of the local delicacies and street food that were so quintessential to the Kolkata life. We would spend about 5-6 weeks in Kolkata, once a year during our winter vacations and this is the time when we would go absolutely crazy on street food.
Veggie Croquettes Recipe – Easy Method
My mom particularly would freak out at the thoughts of the kind of hygiene that may have been observed while cooking these street side delicacies. I remember she would stop us from hogging them at every given opportunity. But dad would be one, who would sneak in oil- drenched paper baggies containing these deep-fried, hard-to-resist treats every evening. During those days, we were totally oblivious to the concepts of calorie counting or portion control.
On most days filling ourselves up in the early evening with these meant skipped dinners. Overall, not a good case to lead by example but the memories of my dad leading the show and we huddling around him and enjoying these treats is precious. The very fact that we three, my sister, I and my dad would be in this together along with mom constantly making her displeasure known makes me smile now.
The treats that my dad would get most days would be deep-fried croquettes with various kinds of filling like meat, veggies, egg etc. He would also get wraps of different kinds, noodles, and dumplings. The vegetable croquette was especially popular as my mom approved of it to a certain extent. Around the place where I come from, it is known as a “vegetable chop”. Lo and behold, it has no resemblance to any kind of image that the word “chops” may bring to your mind unless you’re a Bengali like me.
Mom being here, I tried to make a copycat version of this famous street side snack at home the other day. And we all sat in the backyard and washed it down with some artisanal long-leaf Darjeeling tea. I tell you that was absolute bliss.
Along with Veggie Croquettes Recipe, I have a recipe for Fish Croquettes [2] in my blog too.
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Veggie Croquettes Recipe
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 60
Description
A delicious any-time snack that is best paied with a steaming cup of chai. Try out this amazing and tasty Veggie Croquettes Recipe at home.
Ingredients
- Beets – 1, big, boiled and cut into small pieces
- Carrots – 3, medium, boiled and cut into small pieces
- Potato – 1, big, boiled and mashed
- Peas – ½ cup, boiled
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Onion – 1, medium, chopped finely
- Garlic – 3, big cloves minced
- Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander powder – 2 tsp
- Cumin powder – 1 tsp
- Chili powder – 1 tsp
- Chat masala – 1 tsp
- Garam masala – 2 tsp
- Roasted Peanuts – 2 tbsp
- Cilantro – 1 bunch, finely chopped
- Salt – To taste
- Sugar – To taste
- All Purpose Flour – 3/4 cup
- Seasoned Bread Crumbs – 1 ½ cups
- Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp + 2 cups for frying the croquettes
Instructions
- Boil carrots, beets, potato and peas until they are tender. Cut beets and carrots into small pieces.
- Mash potato and peas.
- In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the cumin seeds and let it sputter.
- Throw in garlic and onions. Fry until translucent.
- Add the boiled veggies.
- Add the spices and tomato paste. Mix everything together.
- Add salt and sugar to taste and the peanuts. Mix everything well.
- Cook on the lowest flame for about 15 minutes.
- Throw in the cilantro and mix everything well. Let the mixture cool.
- Now in a bowl, mix in the all purpose flour with ½ cup of water to make a thick paste.
- On a flat plate, pour the bread crumbs.
- Divide the veggie mixture into 12 parts and shape them into croquettes.
- Coat each of them in the flour paste and roll in bread crumbs. Repeat this step two times.
- Let the croquettes rest. If possible freeze them for 30 mins.
- Heat 2 cups of oil over a medium flame. Gradually drop the croquettes and fry until they are golden brown on all sides.
- Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
- Serve with a side of ketchup, mustard, onions and cucumbers.
Notes
- If your curried mixture looks a tad watery, cook on low flame longer or add 1 tbsp of corn flour to it.
- If you have plain bread crumbs, just add in 1 tsp of salt, ½ tsp of black pepper and 1 tsp of garlic powder to season it.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 12
- Calories: 0
- Sugar: 0
- Sodium: 0
- Fat: 0
- Saturated Fat: 0
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 0
- Protein: 0
- Cholesterol: 0
Keywords: Veggie Croquettes Recipe, Veg Croquettes Recipe, Vegetable Croquettes Recipe
Find it online: https://www.myfridayfoodswings.com/veggie-croquettes-vegetable-chops/ [6]