There are recipes and there are universally accepted recipes, which three generations enjoy equally. Spiced pumpkin cutlets is the latter.
In my family, the only way pumpkin is accepted is when it is in the form of these cutlets. This is a recipe quite popular in Odisha and was passed on to me by my mother in law. It is an added bonus that they are a complete meal by themselves. I also have a mom-tip. These cutlets are great finger food for babies, especially if you practice Baby Led Weaning. Make sure you exclude the cashews to avoid choking and of course the chilies. As for all you calorie counters out there, don’t worry. I have got you covered. You can replace the potato in the cutlet with sweet potato.
While I do serve these cutlets for dinner most times, these pumpkin cutlets are great lunchbox meals for your kids and also make for the perfect accompaniment with a cup of masala chai. Serve them hot with a mint-coriander dip or tamarind-dates dip and enjoy!
Super easy to whip up, I don’t think you need more reasons to give this recipe a try. Scroll down for the detailed recipe.
Ingredients
- Half small pumpkin (chopped in cubes and boiled)- Around 1.5 cups
- Medium sized potato (boiled and mashed)- 1
- Bread crumbs- 2 tablespoons or more to achieve a binding consistency
- Ginger-garlic paste- 1.5 tablespoon
- Coriander powder- ½ teaspoon
- Amchoor (raw mango powder)- ½ teaspoon
- Garam masala (curry powder)- ½ teaspoon
- Red chilli powder (optional)-1/4 teaspoon
- Chopped green chillis (optional)- 2
- Finely chopped fresh coriander leaves- 2 tablespoons
- Semolina (sooji)-1/4 cup
- Himalayan or rock salt- 1.5 teaspoon or to taste
- Cashews halved vertically-6-8
- Oil for shallow frying- 4 tablespoons
Instructions
- Boil the pumpkin in a pressure cooker or a wok with some water until soft. Drain away the water (you can retain the water for making veg stock) and mash the pumpkin to a smooth paste and let it come to room temperature.
- Mix the mashed pumpkin with the mashed potato and the remaining ingredients (except semolina and cashews) to make a semi-solid mixture. While adding bread crumbs be cautious to do it gradually as too little wouldn't help bind and too much would make the cutlets taste like just bread.Shape the mixture into palm sized discs 1-1.5 cm thick. At this point you can pop them into the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes so the cutlets harden a bit making them easy to fry.
- Place the semolina (sooji) on a flat surface so it spreads evenly and coat the discs evenly with it on both sides
- Pressing gently, place the cashews in the center of the discs and shallow fry in a non-stick pan on medium heat flipping half way through till both sides are evenly brown
- Serve hot with a side of mint-coriander dip or tamarind-dates dip
Notes
Calories (for 2 tikkis)- 90 Nutrition- Vitamin A/ Beta-carotene/Vitamin C/Vitamin E It does wonders for your- Heart/Eyes/Skin/Blood Pressure This is “My 3pm/1pm Meal”
[kkstarratings]
2 Comments
Dhara Sheth
October 3, 2017 at 6:37 amLoved the idea of using pumpkin didn’t think of it earlier !
onewholesomemeal
October 4, 2017 at 6:20 pmThanks so much Dhara! Do try and see how you like it 🙂