Vegetable Chop - Bengal Style Vegetable Cutlet

Vegetable chop is a Bengal style vegetable cutlet. It is a delicious appetizer and one of the popular street foods in Bengal. Vegetable chop is an onion garlic free, deep fried crisp snack made with the fresh winter vegetables like beetroot , carrots and potatoes. It may look and sound like a vegetable cutlet , but taste wise it is very different. It has a slight sweet taste and the flavors from the garam masala ( spice blend) , the added peanuts lend a nice crunch and nutty texture and flavor to the croquettes. Vegetable chops are crispy from outside and soft from inside with the peanuts giving a perfect bite. These make up for a perfect tea time snack during winter and monsoon season. Vegetable chops are relished hot with onion rings and a tangy mustard sauce - Kasundi and they are very addictive, you cannot just have one..and that's for sure :)

It is Monday today, and for our #121st #FoodieMondayBlogHop we have chose to cook the recipes from Pushpita's Blog. Pushpita Aheibam is a talented food blogger , an entrepreneur and a very loving friend of mine. She blogs at Pushpita's Chakhum. Pushpita is not participating in the foodie blog hop event as she needs ample of rest due to her illness. Just to cheer her , we all have decided to cook recipes from her blog. Pushpita's wonderful blog is a treasure house to the traditional Manipuri recipes and many delicacies from North Eastern Cuisine. I have known Pushpita for a while now , and one thing i can say about her for sure is that she is a gem of a person, very down to earth and very strong at heart. She is an inspiration to many of us and i am so happy to have her as a friend and fellow blogger. I request all my viewers to pray for her speedy recovery and good health. 

I have chosen to cook Vegetable chop- Bengal style from her blog. The dish came out very well. I was so excited with the results, that i made an instant mustard sauce from Bengal -Kasundi to pair with the vegetable chops. You can get the original recipe of the Vegetable chop from here. I have made a few changes in the recipe taking into account the taste buds of my family and the preferred cooking methods.

                             

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 12 medium size croquettes

Ingredients :

• 2 large Beetroots
• 2 Carrots
• 3 Potatoes
• 2 tablespoon peanuts
• 1/2 inch ginger piece
• 2-3 green chilies
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoon bread crumbs
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional- i have not added)
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash the vegetables and cook them in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles. Peel the veggies and grate.

                                

2. Meanwhile , dry roast the peanuts on a heated skillet until brown spots appear. Allow them to cool down, rub to remove the peel and halve . Keep aside until use. Also make a paste of the ginger and green chilies in a grinder or mortar and pestle .

3. In a large mixing bowl , add the grated veggies , roasted peanuts , salt and minced ginger chilly. Mix well.

 4. Add the bread crumbs and garam masala. Blend well and pinch out equal portion and give oblong shape.

 5. Spread the remaining bread crumbs on a plate. Roll the vegetable chops over the them and keep ready.

 6. Heat enough oil in a deep wok. Drop a small ball of the veggie mix into the hot oil , if it holds its shape and does not disintegrate , our mix is perfect. Fry the veggie croquettes, in small batches in the oil on low heat until golden brown from all sides .

7. Remove and set aside the chops to drain on an absorbent paper topped plate.

  8. Serve the vegetable chops warm with onion rings and  Kasundi (Mustard Sauce) or dip of your choice.

Note:

• The original recipe calls for dipping the veggie rolls into a slurry of maida or cornflour and then rolling on the bread crumbs, prior to deep frying. I have directly added the bread crumbs in the veggie mix ( in this case bread crumbs acts as a binder and does not allow the cutlets to disintegrate in oil while deep frying) and again rolled the veggie mix over a thin layer of bread crumbs to lightly coat .
• I have cooked all the vegetables in a pressure cooker . You may keep the carrots and beetroots raw and grate them and just used boiled potato mash instead. 
• These vegetable chops are mildly sweet in taste, you may increase the spice levels by adding more green chilies if preferred.

I hope you would love to give this recipe a try , if you do so , please feel free to drop your feed back in the comments sections below this blog post.

For more similar snack recipes, do check my posts on 

• Vegetarian Shami Kebab
•                         

• Cashew Nut Stuffed Paneer Balls
•                         

• Raw Banana Cutlets

                                   

• Broccoli Cutlets

                                   

• Baked Beetroot Cutlets