Baked Vegetable Cutlets

Lord Krishna's Cuisine by Yamuna Devi was my earliest introduction to Indian cooking. I received it as a gift shortly after becoming a vegetarian and credit it with improving my eating habits and educating me about the treasures of the Indian cooking tradition. For the first few years, I mostly stuck to the rice and Dal chapters, but all that has changed since I have become more adventurous in the kitchen. Honestly, it's like a book you never want to end. Thankfully, it contains over 500 authentic recipes somewhat adapted for modern day cooks. The possibilities are endless indeed.

A few months ago, I was flipping through the Light Meals and Savories chapter and immediately inserted a post-it-note next to her recipe for Mixed Vegetable Cutlets. I finally had an opportunity to try these recently. Ms. Devi instructs the cook to shallow fry the cutlets, but I was a bit nervous that the mixture would fall apart. The dough was rather blob like, though I had not chilled it yet. I was also tired of being in the kitchen on that particular afternoon. The result was an improvised version including bread crumbs that I baked instead. Overall, a great success.

Serve with a sauce or chutney, such as Toasted Fresh Coconut and Tomato Chutney for a very satisfying meal.

Baked Mixed Vegetable Cutlets (Sabji Tikki)

1 cup of roughly chopped cauliflower flowerets
1 cup of peeled potatoes, diced
1 cup of fresh or frozen peas (defrosted)
1 cup of green beans, chopped
1 cup of carrots, diced
1 small beet, diced
1 stalk of celery, chopped

3 hot green chilies, chopped
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
200 grams of paneer cheese, chopped into cubes
3 tablespoons of chopped cashews
3 tablespoons of chopped almonds
3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds
1 - 2 teaspoons of salt
freshly cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoons of coriander
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 - 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of garam masala
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander
1/2 cup - 1 cup of bread crumbs

Steam the vegetables until just tender.

In a food processor, mince the chilies. Add the chickpeas, paneer, nuts, seeds and herbs, frozen peas (if using), ground spices, salt and pepper and process until well combined. Add a little water if necessary. Transfer this mixture to a large bowl.

Now add the steamed vegetables to the food processor and pulse until the vegetables are mashed. Transfer to the bowl containing the chickpea, paneer mixture and stir until well combined. Now add enough bread crumbs to form a dough that you can shape into small patties or cutlets.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Rub your hands with a bit of oil and shape the mixture into patties. Place each cutlet on the baking sheet. In a preheat 375 degree oven, bake the cutlets for 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully flip each cutlet and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes. You can place the cutlets under the broiler for another couple of minutes if desired.

Serve warm with some fresh chutney or sauce.

Makes 12 - 14 cutlets.

I'm sharing this with Abby of Eat the Right Stuff who is asking for vegetarian recipes to celebrate national vegetarian week, which runs from the 19th of this month to the 25th in the UK.