Uzhundha vadai / medhu vadai / mina pappu garelu / urid dhal fritters

 

A very healthy and tasty snack,  especially for children. I love the smell, outer crispiness and inner softness of this vadai. Quick and easy to prepare and it makes a wholesome snack too. Any tamilian will go ga-ga for this vada preparation :). Usually this vada is served along with venpongal or idly in hotels and it goes very well with sambhar and coconut chutney. In south India it is a must during festival feasts.

 

 

Ingredients:

Urid dhal - 1 1/2 cup

Onion- 1 no

Green chillies- 4 nos

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece

Curry leaves- some 10 leaflets, minced finely

Jeera- 1/2 tspn

Pepper corns- 10 nos (coarsely grounded)

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method : 

Soak urid dhal in water for 40 minutes. Cut onions, green chillies and ginger into small pieces. Mince curry leaves and coarsely ground pepper corns. Grind the soaked urid dhal in a food processor to a smooth paste. Add enough salt when grinding. The batter should be thick and not watery. Now mix onions, green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, jeera and pepper to the ground batter. Mix well. Take a small lime-sized ball of batter and make it flat. Make a hole in the center of the flattened batter with your finger. Now drop it in hot oil. Fry all the batter in the same way. Crispy, soft medhu vada or uzhundha vada is ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : You can add two teaspoon of tuvar dhal when soaking the uri ddhal and grind together. I read in a magazine that it increases the crispiness of vada. You can grind the batter coarsely too. That gives a different, more crispy taste. Do not soak the dhal for more than one hour. Do not make the batter watery. The batter should be thick enough so that the vada imbibes less oil.  But when the batter is too thick the vada becomes hard and rubbery. So find a balance in the consistency of the batter. You can shape the vada with your hand. But before doing this dip your hand in water so that the batter doesn't stick to your hand. Otherwise you can use polythene sheets which are coated with oil for shaping the vadas. You can add carrot scrapping, coconut pieces, any minced healthy greens to the batter for that extra touch. Serve with coconut chutney. Happy cooking !!!

Vazhaipoo kola urundai / Arati puvvu vada

 

Vazhaipoo kola urundai is one of my favourite dish .  Plantain flowers not only look very beautiful but they are very tasty too.  Each and every part of banana plant is used in cooking. Since there are lots of plantain farms near my home we get these infloresence more often. When I come from school I can easily say whether there is plantain infloresence (Infloresence is the collection of banana flowers and it looks like as shown in the first picture of the collage)  in my home just by the smell of it. If you keep the plantain infloresence in your kitchen the entire kitchen smells very good. It is not like the usual  sweet scent of most flowers. It is different  (like the raw plantain smell, but more stronger ) and somehow the smell of these flowers stimulates my apetite. 

My dad and myself are big fans for these plantain flowers. My dad had many sweet memories associated with this. He used to remember his granpa more often. He would say that his granpa is such a nice and kind human being who is very fond of his grandchildren. When he goes to the plantain farm he used to bring these flowers for his grandchildren. The reason is, you can find honey dew within each banana flower and that nectar  tastes very sweet and refreshing. You should taste them....wow!!! They are one of my childhood favourites. When the plantain flowers are fresh and brought direct from the farm and most importantly in the early morning, you can find a drop of jelly-like, nectar inside each mature flower. My dad used to remember how his grandpa used to come from the farm with these banana infloresence hanging arond his neck, tied together by a rope and with a broad smile in his face. The grandchildren will be eagerly waiting for his arrival. The liquid which oozes out from the parts of plantain plant produces a nasty stain in the clothes. But his grandpa never cared about that. Still my great grandad's white shirts with banana stain is lying in my home. My dad kept them as a treasure and used to wear them during his granddads death anniversary every year, for sometime. That gave him  a kind of satisfaction. My great granddad's sole aim was to see the happy smile of his grandchildren when he brings them something to eat and I must say that my dad came from a very poor family and the children rarely had any rich snacks. When my dad explains all this I loved to see the light in his eyes. He will be deeply involved in his chilhood memories of his grandad and the enjoyment they had with these flowers when they are young. I am sure those lovely memories made him to teach me and my sister about these banana nectar and where to look for them :).

How to clean the banana flower :

The first picture of the collage shows the banana infloresence. Each bunch of banana flowers are covered by the purple coloured bract. Remove each bract you will find the slim, nectar-rich, tubular, toothed, white flowers. They are shown in the second picture of collage. I should confess that I never get a fresh plantain flower from the shops here. That is why you see a black area in the flowers. They are not spoiled but they have become black as a result of long storage and exposure to air. Now see the third and the fourth picture of collage. They demonstrate you which parts of the flowers are non-edible and has to be removed. The parts that has to be removed are too thick so they cannot be used in cooking. The fifth picture shows  the  immature infloresence you will find when you remove  a few layers of outer bracts and flowers. Just peel the banana infloresence layer by layer and you will find this immature collection of flowers at the center. They taste very, very, very yummy. When my mom is peeling the infloresence and collecting the flowers I will be eagerly waiting for this. You can just eat them raw :). The sixth picture of the collage shows the collection of flowers after removing the two non-needed parts. Now everything is ready for preparing the recipe. The more mature flowers will be on the outer layer of the infloresence and they become the banana or plantain in future and the lesser mature ones are more inside. When you buy a banana flower seperate the flowers into very mature and less mature ones. More mature flowers can be used for making this dish and the less mature ones and the beautiful immature infloresence in the fifth picture of the collage (if at all it is left without being eaten by you or your children) can be used for making yummy pulikuzhambu. This link has the best pictures please have a look.

Banana flower is rich in fiber. It is considered as an excellent remedy for painful mensturation and other menstural irregularities. It is thought to be good for lactating mothers. Beleive me this is very tasty too :).

 

Ingredients :

Banana flower (cleaned and chopped finely, mature ones on the top of the infloresence)- 1 cup

Fried bengal gram dhal / pottukadalai- 1/2 cup

Onions- 1/2 or 4 shallots

Coconut meat- 2 one inch pieces

Fennel seeds- 1 tspn

Pepper corns- 1 tspn

Dried red chillies- 5 nos (adjust according to your taste)

Ginger- 1/2 inch piece

Garlic-2 pods

Oil for deep frying

Salt to taste

Method :

Use the mature flowers of banana blossom or infloresence for this recipe. Remove the non-wanted parts from the individual banana flowers as shown in picture. Then cut them into small pieces and soak them in buttermilk. Now slice the coconut pieces. In a food processor grind together the banana flowers, fried gram dhal, fennel seeds, pepper corns, coconut pieces, dried red chillies, ginger and garlic with enough salt. The ground batter should be similar to vada batter. Now make small balls of the batter and fry them in hot oil. Repeat this process in batches. Very, very tasty kola urundai is ready to be relished.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Selection of banana blossom or infloresence is very important. Look at the first picture of the collage. The blossom should have a red colour at the bottom. Then you can be sure that this blossom tastes good without the bitter taste. There are many varieties of banana and only the flowers from some banana varieties (country variety banana blossoms) taste good without the bitter taste. The removing of the unwanted parts from the flowers is a long job but be patient the final product will make you happy.  The unwanted parts has to be removed only from the mature flower and in the immature, little flowers they pose no problem since they are soft and edible. The liquid oozing from the banana blossom creates nasty stain on clothes and even in your hand. Take care not to bring them in contact with the clothes and apply oil in your hand to prevent staining of your hands when processing the flowers for cooking. Soak the cut flowers in buttermilk. This helps in preventing the unpleasant, black colour that they acquire when they are exposed to air. Do not forget fennel seeds and pepper corns. They add zest to the dish. If the batter has become thinner and watery add corn flour or rice flour to make it thicker. These kola urundai make excellent snacks for young children and adults. They taste yummy with 'pappu sadham' too. Happy cooking !!!

Milagai bajji / Mirapakaya bajjilu / Fritters with green chilli peppers

 

Do you love the smell of green chilli peppers? I do. I just love the smell and these bajjis are  an excellent way to enjoy their warmth and flavour. My first meeting with chilli bajjis was during our school trip to Ooty. Everywhere you can see small vendors selling them hot, hot and for that cold ooty climate they make an excellent snack. Recently, during our India visit we had fresh, very hot green chillies direct from the farm.  They looked very tempting. So me and my mom-in-law made some bajjis with it. I noticed that my mom-in-law made a very quick and easy filling just with garam masala. They tasted very good. So I would like to share her method with you all.

 

Ingredients :

Green chilli peppers (less hot variety)- 6 nos

Garam masala- any garam masala of your choice, chat masala will also be too good- 1 tspn

Besan or gram dhal flour- 1 cup

Rice flour- 1/4 cup

Red chilli powder- 1/2 tspn

Baking soda- 1/8 tspn (optional)

Asafoetida- few pinches

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix besan, rice flour, red chilli powder, asafoetida, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Now add water to make a thick paste. The consistency of the batter should be similar to idly batter. Wash the green chillies. Wipe them with a clean cloth. Make slit on each chillies as shown in picture. Now mix the garam masala of your choice with little salt. Apply this mixture into the slit as a thin coating. Then dip individual chillies into the batter and and deep fry them in hot oil. Very tasty bajjis will be ready.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Batter consistency is important. It should be thick enough to coat the chilli peppers uniformly. I love if the chillies are a bit hot. Try this garam masala stuffing, it tastes really good. But the garam masala mixed with salt should be applied only as a thin coat, do not stuff it. If you use a hot variety chilli try removing its seeds and try soaking them in salted water for 8 hours . This will help to reduce their hotness.  Happy cooking !!! and have a wonderful weekend ahead!!!

Actually there are several types of filling used for making milagai bajji. Some people use ajwain seeds containing filling, some use seasame seeds and some use onions but for me the bajjis taste very good without any filling because I feel the fillings mentioned above overpower the real taste and flavour of chilli peppers. The filling my mom-in-law used was perfect. It did not overpower the real chilli pepper taste.Hope you will also like it too :)

Vengaya bajji / Onion bajji / Fritters with onion

 

Very tasty and aromatic snack. Can be prepared in no time. When we go to Rajender's native and visit our friends and relatives there, this was the main snack item they serve us. Enjoying their talk, sitting with a plate of vengaya bajji in hand and a cup of hot tea - that is what is called as heaven on earth :). This is a perfect dish for onion lovers.

 

Ingredients :

Onions- 2 nos

Bengal gram flour- 1 cup

Rice flour- 1/4 cup

Chilli powder- 1 tspn

Green chillies-3 nos (optional)

Egg- 1 no (optional)

Asafoetida- few pinches

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method :

Cut onions as shown in picture. Mix the gram flour and rice flour with onions nicely with your hand. The flour should coat all the onion pieces. If you are using egg, break the egg open and mix with onions and flour mixture at this stage. Now add water little by little to get a consistency which is not so watery and not too thick. Actually it should be close to the thicker side but not too dry. Mix in chilli powder, asafoetida and enough salt. Now heat oil in a pan and fry the prepared batter containing onions in batches. Tasty, tasty snack will be ready in a jiffy.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Bajji should be soft and not that crispy as pakodas. You can adjust the crispiness by varying the amount of water. The final mixture should not be very dry. It shoould not be too watery too. Adding egg imparts that extra softness. Do not forget asafoetida. If you are allergic to besan you can use moong dhal flour. The taste of bajjis made with moong dhal flour will be a bit different but it will not compromise the taste. Enjoy the pakoda with a glass of hot tea on a cold day for that extra effect :). Happy cooking !!!

Vaazhaikai bajji/ arati kaya bjjilu/ Raw plantain fritters

 

In Madurai, at around 4'O clock in the evening, every small tea shop and hotels will have this snack. They serve it with coconut chutney. Vaazhaikai bajji and coconut chutney- a super yum combo !!!. I personally love this bajji than any other bajji preparation. The soft meat of raw plantain covered with a crispy outer coat of batter will keep anybody longing for more and when it is served with coconut chutney- hmmmmmm I have no words to describe it. I love the smell of raw plantain. If you are  a person who love the smell of raw plantain and its taste this recipe is for you.

Ingredients :

Raw plantain (Indian variety)- 2 nos

Bengal gram flour (kadalai maavu, chenaga pindi)- 11/2 cup

Rice flour (arisi maavu, biyappindi)- 1/4 cup

Baking soda- 1/2 tspn (optional)

Asafoetida- 1/4 tspn

Chilli powder- 2 tspn (adjust according to your taste)

Salt to taste 

Oil for deep frying

Method :

Take bengal gram flour, rice flour, asafoetida powder, red chilli powder and salt in a vessel and mix together. Now add enogh water to make a batter similar in consistency to dosa batter. Cut raw plantains as shown in the picture into a thin stripe (no need to remove the skin...I love them with skin intact as it is more flavourful but its your wish). Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough immerse the individual plantain stripes in batter so that it is coated evenly with batter. Then drop them in hot oil and fry until they acquire a golden brown colour. Yummy, yummy snack will be ready. 

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe: Take care that the batter is coated well on the plantain stripes.Do not make the batter too thick or too watery. It should have a consistency of dosa batter or a little thicker.  Include asafoetida. Bajji and asafoetida are inseperable :). Happy cooking !!! and have a beautiful weekend!!!

Mupparuppu vadai/ Fritters made with three different dhals

 

My mom taught me how to make this vadai. This is a variation of the usual vadai recipe.  We normally make vadai either with channa dhal or urid dhal. But in this recipe channa dhal, urid dhal and moong dhal are added in a ratio of 1:1:1 to make crispy vadais. You can also use these vadais to make urundai kuzhambu, which is a mouth-watering delicacy. As I have already mentioned if you use different variety of pulses in your cooking you will get all the necessary amino acids and in this way vegetarians can meet their protein requirements. I was not sure how these vadais will turn out since I was making them for the first time. But they turned out to be extremely tasty, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Do try it as it makes a tasty and healthy snack.

Ingredients :

Channa dhal ( kadalai paruppu)- 1 cup

Moong dhal ( pasiparuppu)-  1 cup

Urid dhal (uzhundham paruppu)- 1 cup

Onion- 1 no (red onions are better)

Spring onions (optional)- I had some at home so I minced them and added to the batter, you can also use spinach

Green chillies- 4 nos

Curry leaves- 10 leaflets (minced fine)

Ginger- ½ inch piece minced finely

Cumin seeds- 1 tspn

Chilli powder- 1 ½ tspn (adjust according to your taste)

Asafoetida- few pinches

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method :

Soak all three dhals together in water for one hour. Then grind them together with enough salt and asafoetida powder into a coarse batter. Cut onion and green chillies into small pieces. Mince ginger and curry leaves. Now add everything to the ground batter and mix well by adding chilli powder. Taste the batter and adjust salt once again. Now the vada batter is ready. Heat oil in a pan for deep frying. Take small lime sized batter and drop them in oil. Do not overcrowd the pan. Take them out when the vadas become golden brown in colour. Fry all the batter in batches. Crispy vadas are ready to be relished.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Grind the batter into a coarse paste. Take care that the vada batter is thick and not watery. When grinding add water in very small amount and only when it is absolutely necessary. Do not make large vadas. Then the inside of the vadas remains uncooked. Happy cooking !!!

Saggubiyyam janthikalu / javvarisi murukku

 

Actually this is a murukku recipe with a twist. There are many different ways to make murukku but adding javvarisi to the murukku dough is very new to me. I love javvarisi vadgam for its crispiness and adding sago to murukku really did the trick of making it  very crispy and delicious. Thanks to Srivalli of  Spicing your life . She conducts an event called Indian Cooking Challenge. I found the theme of the event to be very nice. My grandmother knew to make many different sweets and snacks and my mom only knew 10% of it. Now myself I just know only 5% of what my mom knew. The reality is many of our traditional recipes are in the danger of extinction.  In Indian Cooking Challenge you get delicious recipes which are traditional and time-tested. You have to try it. Isn't this a wonderful way to learn traditional recipes and pass on to your generation? So this is the first time I am participating in the ICC event and this saggubiyam janthikalu turned out to be awesome!!! Thank you Srivalli for this recipe :) I have a doubt Srivalli....should we use curd or sour buttermilk? What is the reason for using curd and not water to soak sago? My friend asked me this and I had no answer :)

Ingredients : 

Rice flour- 2 cups

Fried channa gram dhal flour (pottukadalai maavu) - 1/2 cup

Besan flour (kadalai maavu) - 1/2 cup

Sago (javvarisi)- 1/2 cup

Curd- 50 grams

Chilli powder- 1 tspn or as per taste

Asafoetida- a few pinch

Oil- 50 gms

and Oil for deep frying

Special utensil- murukku achu

Method :

Soak sago in the diluted curd  for three hours. Dilute the curd so that the sago is totally covered by it. When I added curd to the sago within 15 minutes the sago absorbed all the liquid. Then I have to add some more water to make the sago sitting immersed inside the fluid . This is very important to make the sago super soft. Srivalli and my mom already warned me what will happen if the sago does not turn super soft. When the sago is not soft enough, when you add the murukku dough to the hot oil, they will literally burst....Imagine the hot oil splashed out everywhere and the sound of crackers in your kitchen, so be extra careful.With this fear in my mind I checked the consistency of the sago frequently. I had an idea of grinding the sago into a paste if they do not turn soft enough. But with careful monitoring and addition of water the sago turned super soft in 3 hours time. When you press the sago between your thumb they should become a paste and thats the right and safe consistency. Now take rice flour in a vessel, add pottu kadalai maavu and kadalai maavu to it. Add enough salt to taste, asafoetida and red chilli powder to the flour mixture. Now heat 50 gms of oil in a pan. When the oil becomes hot add it to the flour mixture and mix the flour using a spatula. Then add the soaked javvarisi to the flour mixture and make a soft, smooth dough out of it. Add more water if the moisture and liquid in the soaked sago is not enough. Now take the murukku achu fill dough in it and make murukku shape as shown in picture. Now heat oil, when the oil is hot enough fry the murukku and take them out when they turn golden brown in colour.

Look at the murukku with javvarisi in it. For me it appears like pearls embedded in it. They did have a wonderful crispiness and taste!!! You will also fall in love with it, especially your children.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Take care about the sago part. Make sure the sago turns soft enough. If you still have a doubt the safest way is to grind the sago and add it to the batter. If the murukku dough is too dry you will not get a perfect murukku like this. They will break into small pieces when you fry them in oil. The dough should be moist enough but not too watery or dry. Do not over fry the murukku otherwise it acquires a different taste. For me without asafoetida, murukku is not complete. So add a few pinches of asafoetida. It greatly enhances the flavour. Happy cooking!!!

Rava(i) paniyaram / semolina pancake

The most simple and delicious sweet!! You can prepare this in 15 minutes if you have all the ingredients in hand. This sweet was my dad's most favourite. During deepavali my mom would definitely prepare this for my dad. When you start frying the batter a wonderful aroma fills the entire place. Rajender said 'It smells too good' and rarely he gives such an open comment. My friends liked this sweet very much and I am happy too. When I tasted it I knew why my dad loved this. Such a satisfying taste it has............I couldn't explain it more. Just try it you will also know and your loved ones will love you more for preparing this dish.

Ingredients :

Rava- 11/2 cup

Maida/ All-purpose flour- 1 cup

Sugar- 1 cup

Egg- 1 no (optional)
Ripe banana- 1 no

Cardamom- 5 nos (powdered)

Oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix rava, maida, sugar, powdered cardamom, egg and ripe banana together. Mash the banana with your hand and mix everything to form a paste. Now add 1/2 cup of water and mix everything well. If you need more water add little by little. The final batter should be like thick dosa batter. Heat oil in a pan. When the oil is hot enough drop the batter into the hot oil little by little using a table spoon. Fry till they turn golden brown in colour. Very tasty paniyaram will be ready to be served.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Take care to make the batter thick and not too watery.  Watery batter imbibes more oil. Use coarse variety semolina for better result. Fry the batter till they turn golden brown.  Do not forget to add cardomom that gives the zest to this recipe. That is all and happy cooking!!! 

I would love to send this entry to Priya's CWS cardamom event.

Pakoda / pakora / pakodi

Pakoda, a perfect companion for a cup of hot tea. When it is cold or raining outside a cup of hot tea and a crispy snack like pakoda will be a heavenly treat. It is a snack item prepared with gram flour or besan. It is a very famous bakery item in south India. But home made pakodas are  much tastier and healthier when prepared in the right way. Pakoda and bajis are made with the same variety of flour, yet they taste very different. Pakodas are hard and crispier while bajis have a much smoother texture.

I would always think of avoiding  deep fried items but my cravings usually take an upper hand. So as usual I ended up preparing pakoda on a lazy evening. We both watched IPL with a cup of hot tea and garam, garam pakodis. Hope you too will prepare and enjoy this snack.

Ingredients :

Gram flour (besan)- 1 1/2 cups

Rice flour- 1/4 cup

Onion- 1 no (big variety)

Curry leaves- 10 leaflets

Green chillies- 4 nos

Chilli powder- 1/2 tspn (depending on your taste buds increase or decrease)

Fennel seeds- 1 tspn

Ginger- a small piece (minced well)

Asafoetida- a pinch

Salt to taste and oil for deep frying

Method :

Mix together besan, rice flour. chilli powder, minced ginger, enough salt and asafoetida. In a pan heat 3 tbspns of oil. When the oil becomes hot, add it slowly to the besan mixture and stir it well with a metal spatula. Now add the cut onions, green chillies, fennel seeds and minced curry leaves to the besan mixture. Mix together all the ingredients. Onion has some water content in it. When you squeeze the onions with your hand the moisture in onion pieces will help in binding the flour together. Then sprinkle water little by little and mix the flour to form a thick, paste like batter. Be careful when adding water. Do it slowly and carefully. Take care not to make the batter watery. Then the preparation will turn into a baji. Now heat oil in a pan for deep frying. When the oil becomes hot enough add the batter slowly in batches. Fry till the pakodas turn golden, brown colour. Serve with a cup of hot chai.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : The texture of the batter is very important. It must be thick and paste like. Addig hot oil to the besan flour helps in making the pakodas crispier and they also imbibe less oil during the frying process. Try adding spinach leaves or any other greens for a healthier version. Happy cooking!!!

Vegetable cutlet

Cutlets are very tasty appetizers. One rainy day I felt very bored sitting at home. Wanted to make myself busy and that is how these cutlets were created. I have watched my mom  make vegetable cutlets. So the entire preparation is not that difficult and the final product was excellent. The cutlet itself looked very appetizing in the end because of the mixture of different vegetables containing different colours. Vegetable cutlet is a  healthy appetizer for young children who dislike their veggies. We loved it and hope you enjoy it too.

Ingredients :

Potato- 2 nos

Beetroot- 1 nos (1 small or half of a big one)

Peas- 2 handful

Beans- 1/2 cup

Cauliflower- some 10 florets

Carrot-  1 no (big one)

Green chillies- 6 nos

Garlic- 5 pods

Ginger- an inch piece

Coriander leaves- 1/4 of a bunch

Bread crumbs- 1 cup

Amchur powder ( dry mango powder)- 1 tspn

Garam masala- 1 tspn

Egg/ maida- 1 cup (used as a binder)

Onion- 1 no (minced into small pieces)

Oil- for deep frying

Some sauce which you like

Method :

First boil all the vegetables in a cooker with minimum amount of water. The vegetables should become soft enough to mash them completely. Allow it to cool. Grind together green chillies, garlic, ginger and coriander leaves into a coarse paste. Mix  half of the bread crumbs, amchur powder, garam masala powder, the ground green chilli, garlic, ginger, coriander paste and  enough salt with mashed vegetables and keep aside. The bread crumbs absorb excess moisture from the mashed vegetables. If the mixture is still on the watery side mix in more bread crumbs. After 30 minutes make flat patties with the mashed vegetable mixture as shown in the picture. Now before deep frying the patties you need a binding material. If you are a non-vegetarian you can use eggs. Egg whites are the best binders. If you are a vegetarian you can use maida mixed with water. Make a smooth, semi-solid paste of maida. Take the flattened vegetable mixture, dip it in beaten egg or in maida paste, apply bread crumbs on both sides and drop it in hot oil. Fry till they get a deep brown colour on both sides. Very tasty appetizer is ready to be served. Serve with raw onions and tomato sauce.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Take care not to end up with a watery mixture of mashed vegetables. Never use red chilli powder when making cutlets. Use green chillies. Serve with raw onions. Raw onions with cutlet is really awesome!!! The binding agent should completely cover the flattened vegetable mixture. Otherwise they break in oil and imbibe more oil. The oil for frying should become really hot before you drop in the vegetable mixture. Have a beautiful week end!!! and happy cooking!!!