Spicy Beetroot Cutlet

Who has been to the Indian Coffee House and not fallen in love with with their spicy, crunchy beetroot cutets. It is the only place I've been to that serves beetroot in almost all their vegetarian dishes and their beetroot cutlets are my favourite.

Beetroot cutlet takes me back to my college days and the Indian Coffee House at Thiruvalla. Our prayer meetings on Sundays inevitably ended at the Indian Coffee House with beetroot cutlets and coffee. Even when I started working, the Indian Coffee House at Thiruvananthapuram was my one stop shop for beetroot cutlets. However, things got tough later. Especially here in Melbourne, where you do not even have a proper South Indian restaurant, let alone an Indian Coffee House. Well! More than enough reason to try out these little red beauties in my kitchen.
And what's better? Don't my boys love it?

Makes: 18 - 20 large cutlets
Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes + time to fry

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp ginger, finely grated
• 2 tbsp garlic, finely minced
• 2 - 3 medium green chilly (3 makes the cutlets quite hot)
• 1 sprig curry leaves, finely chopped
• 2 cups beetroot, finely grated
• 2 cups carrot, finely grated
• 2 cups cooked and roughly mashed potato (around 2 large potatoes)
• 3/4 cup green peas
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilly powder
• a dash of turmeric
• 1/2 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 - 1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
• 1 cup fine bread crumbs
• Salt to taste
• 1 large egg, well beaten
• 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs, to coat cutlets
• 1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil + extra oil for deep frying

Method
1. Heat 1 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add onion, ginger, garlic, green chilly, and salt and stir through over medium heat until onion turns light brown in colour. Add curry leaves, beetroot and carrot and mix well. Add all the spices, vinegar and salt and mix well. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occassionally, until the vegetables are cooked well. Remove from heat.
2. When cooled to room temperature, add roughly mashed potato and bread crumbs and mix well. Season to taste. Divide into 18 - 20 equal portions and shape vegetable mixture into desired shape. Dip each vegetable shapes into the beaten egg and then coat well with bread crumbs. Deep fry in hot oil until cutlets turn brown.
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.