About veg cutlet
The word ‘Cutlet’ is derived from the French word ‘côtelette’ and were a typical starter/appetizer in the French Cuisine. Later they became very popular across the world and are made in numerous ways. Veg cutlet are popular in the Indian cuisine and are made with vegetables like potatoes, carrots, peas, herbs and spices. Like the traditional cutlets, our vegetable cutlets are breaded and fried until crisp. You may be wondering what a vegetable cutlet is A veg cutlet is a simple mashed and spiced vegetable patty that is dipped in batter, later dredged in bread crumbs and fried in oil. There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian cutlets made in Indian cuisine. However in all of these versions, potato forms the base of the patties.
My recipe
This recipe of vegetable cutlet is simple, healthy, gluten-free and vegan. For making any kind of cutlet we need bread crumbs or flour to bind the ingredients. But my recipe can be made without both of them by simply replacing bread crumbs with flattened rice/ poha or roasted gram flour (sattu). In this post I have shown making cutlets without bread crumbs, for both binding as well for crumb coating. However if you don’t have poha, then you can simply use bread crumbs or panko crumbs. Apart from potatoes I use peas, carrots and beans. Sometimes I also use cauliflower, baby spinach, broccoli and sweet corn kernels. For a meaty texture you can also add some soya granules (vegetable textured protein). Sweet potatoes, yam, raw banana and even grated beetroot can be used. But remember that the taste of your cutlets will depend on the veggies you use. So use only the vegetables you like. These veg cutlets go very well with green chutney, schezwan sauce, mint chutney or chilli sauce. These can also be served as burger patties in a veggie burger. Apart from making a great tea time snack, they also make a great appetizer & party snack. More similar recipesHara bhara kababChicken cutletspaneer cutletsmushroom cutletsCorn cutlets
How to make veg cutlet (stepwise photos)
Preparation
- Firstly rinse and chop 8 french beans, 1 large carrot and 2 medium potatoes to 1 inch cubes. You can also use cauliflower, beets and cabbage. I used half cup green peas as well. After chopping you should be having
2 cups potatoes½ cup French beans¾ to 1 cup carrots
- Add them to a steam basket. Pour 1½ cups water to your cooker or steamer. Place a rack or trivet and then place the steam basket in the steamer. Cover and steam them together until just done. They must be soft cooked and firm but must not be mushy or soggy. If cooked in a pot, drain them up in a colander completely if any moisture is left. Instant pot: To cook in instant pot, pressure cook for 3 minutes and let the pressure release naturally.
- Make sure there is no excess moisture in the veggies. If the veggies have lot of moisture in them they soak up lot of oil and do not bind well. Next mash them well with a masher.
- Add 3 tablespoons fine chopped coriander leaves, 1 to 2 chopped and deseeded green chilies, ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala and 1 teaspoon ginger paste. Mix everything well. I have also added half teaspoon roasted cumin seeds if you want you may add. I have not listed this in the ingredient list in the recipe.
- Add 6 tablespoons bread crumbs. I prefer to use ½ cup powdered poha. I used thick variety red poha. Even white poha can be used. It absorbs moisture from the veggies better than bread crumbs and is a healthier yeast-free option. To make the poha powder, simply grind half cup poha in a grinder.
Shaping vegetable cutlet
- Mix everything well. The mixture should be non sticky and must not be soggy. Take small portion of this and make 12 patties. Also prepare crumb coating, add half cup bread crumbs or half cup coarsely powdered poha to a plate.
- Next make a thin batter using 2 tbsp of besan or rice flour and 3 to 4 tbsps water in a small bowl. Place the patty in the batter. Patty need not be coated with much batter. If it becomes moist it is just enough.
- Place it on the bread crumbs or poha. Make sure the patty is coated with bread crumbs on both the sides. You can also use coarsely ground thick variety poha or crushed cornflakes for this. Here I used white poha powder.
- Repeat this for all the patties and place them on a plate. Leave this aside for about 5 to 10 minutes. This helps the bread crumbs to stick well to the patties. Press down gently each cutlet so the coating sticks well.
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a small pan. Shallow fry or bake them. I used 3 tsps oil for every batch of 5 patties. You can reduce this quantity to 2 tsps. You can also air fry or bake these cutlets following my pro tips section below.
- Lastly turn the cutlets to the other side and fry until golden. Serve veg cutlet with green chutney or any dip.
Pro tips
Always steam or boil the vegetables al dente and not mushy. This prevents the cutlets from turning too soft from inside.Mash the veggies and then add bread crumbs or poha powder or besan to reduce the moisture in the veggie mash. My preferred choice is powdered poha as it is a healthy choice than the bread crumbs.The veg cutlet are dipped in batter made of chickpea or rice flour then crumb coated to make them crispy. You can also coat them with coarse crushed poha (powdered poha)Shallow fry them until crisp on a low to medium flame. You can also bake them.You can flavor the veg cutlet mixture with any spice powders you like. I have used garam masala.
Baked and air fryer veg cutlet
To bake these veg cutlets, preheat the oven to 360 F or 180 C for 15 mins and place the patties on a greased tray. Bake them for 20 minutes or until the tip becomes golden and crisp.To air fry, place the cutlets in the air fryer and spray some oil. Air fry at 360 F or 180 C for 16 to 18 minutes.Air fried and baked cutlets won’t turn golden brown like these. But if you want them golden, then roast the bread crumbs first until light golden and use them for crumb coating.
Variations
Related Recipes
Recipe card
Veg cutlet recipe first published in October 2015. Updated and republished in July 2021.
