VEGETABLE CUTLETS / PATTIES



















VEGETABLE CUTLETS / PATTIES - An easy and simple dish to prepare. it could be served as a snack with some tomato ketchup or as a side dish with Pepper Water or Dhal and Rice or even with bread or Toast. Truly versatile. You could add whatever vegetables you like and it would still taste delicious. 

Ingredients
 1 cup of chopped boiled vegetables such as peas, carrots, French beans etc
3 potatoes boiled and mashed                 
2 onions chopped finely
2 green chillies chopped                          
1 teaspoon chopped mint
1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger           
½  teaspoon pepper powder
Salt to taste                                              
3 tablespoons oil
1 egg beaten                                          
3 tablespoons breadcrumbs


Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions and ginger till golden brown. Add the chopped green chillies and sauté for a few minutes. Now add the cooked vegetables, salt, and mint and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes, then set aside to cool for some time. Now mix in the mashed potato and mint. Make even sized balls with the mixture and form into round cutlets. Heat oil in a flat pan. Dip each cutlet / patty in beaten egg, roll in powdered breadcrumbs and shallow fry till golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with tomato sauce or chutney.

DAK BUNGALOW / TRAVELER'S REST HOUSE CHICKEN CURRY


















DAK BUNGALOW / TRAVELER'S REST HOUSE CHICKEN CURRY
For those who do not know what a ‘Dak Bungalow’ is, it was simply a ‘Traveler’s Rest House in the Indian subcontinent, during the days of the British Raj, originally on a Dak Route. Dak was a system of mail delivery or passenger movement, transported by relays of bearers or horses stationed at intervals along a particular route and these Rest Houses were established or built at various places along the route. These Traveler’s Bungalows or Dak Bungalows later became the Inspection Bungalows for British Officers.
The recipe for preparing this dish varied with each cook at the Dak Bungalows depending on the availability of ingredients in a particular place as most Dak Bungalows or Inspections were on Trunk Roads and not in the vicinity of Grocery shops. The Red Chicken Curry of those Colonial times is still prepared by the cooks in the present day Inspection / Travellers’ Bungalows as the ‘Laal Murgi Curry’!

Serves 6      Preparation and cooking Time 45 minutes
Ingredients:
 1 Kg chicken cut into medium size pieces
1 teaspoon spice powder or garam masala powder
3 teaspoons chopped garlic                     
2 teaspoon chillie powder
3 onions sliced
2 tomatoes chopped finely
Salt to taste
3 green chillies
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon pepper powder
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ cup curds / yogurt (optional)


Wash the chicken and add all the ingredients mentioned above to it and marinate for about 1 hour in a suitable pan. Place the pan on medium heat and cook closed for about 5 to 6 minutes. Lower the heat, add enough water and then simmer on low heat till the chicken is cooked and the gravy thickens. 
Serve with Steamed rice or chapattis.