Monday 15 July 2013

Potato and chickpea cakes

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Are you all enjoying the weather wherever you are? Too hot? Too cold? Too much rain?? or is it just perfect? Too many questions??? :) :)

We have had gorgeous sunny weather for the past few weeks and its been good. Well most of the time that is. I have been out galavanting with friends, attending events and generally being busy which sometimes drains me out in the heat. But I'm not complaining.. Work has taken a back seat for the time being and I'm glad it is so, because I really do need to figure out how to handle the backlog of work that has accumulated over this past few months..yes, you read it right, months. I'm slowly finishing it off and hopefully will learn how to manage time more efficiently. My husband would be very glad I've even declared this in public because he has the biggest issue with me not managing time responsibly and planning well.

Coming to the recipe. No offence to all the vegetarian, but I have the toughest time cooking for them. Its not because there are no recipes available, but because I suck at it. My vegetarian dishes don't really come out nice and paneer, potatoes and spinach are the only options I usually play around with. Its become boring and I've run out of ideas. This combination of potatoes and chickpeas however was a welcome change. The recipe is by Alfred Prasad from Great British Chef's Vegetarian Recipes and a very easy one at that. Few ingredients needed, can be put together in no time and you get a decent vegetarian starter.
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I had a bit of trouble with cooking the patties, since there was nothing to really hold them together like egg white or bread crumbs. So after two failed attempts at getting perfect shaped cakes, I decided to try the method mentioned in the recipe (I know, I should have just stuck to it the first time) and then it worked. I happily ate the first two that didn't turn out well without any complaint though. The recipe is apt for kids, but I don't have kids and so chucked in a green chilli which was such a fab idea. Serve it with just ketchup and you have a perfect snack to please your guests

Recipe halved from Great British Chefs
Potatoes- 2 large
Cooked chickpeas- 100 gms (I used canned)
Cumin seeds- 1/2 tbsp
Garam masala- 1/2 tsp
Green chilli- 1, finely chopped
Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup, finely chopped
Salt- to taste
Oil- 1 tbsp
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Slice the potatoes into quarters and steam in a dumpling steamer for about 15 minutes or so. I find steaming much easier than boiling. But feel free to boil till tender and a fork goes through easily.
Cool for a while and then peel. Break the potatoes with a fork, but don't mash it completely.
Into a big bowl add all the remaining ingredients except oil and mix well using a masher or even better, your hands.
Again, they need not be completely smooth, a few chunks here and there is fine,
Heat the oil in a frying pan.
While that's heating, shape the potato mix into small discs.
Cook each cake in the pan, making sure you press it down so it gets cooked evenly.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot with ketchup.

Notes: Don't add a lot of oil, the cakes will only fall apart and make life difficult. The 1 tbsp oil was enough for all the potato cakes, but if you feel you need more oil, add bit by bit and fry.
The recipe calls for refrigerating the cakes after shaping them, which i didn't. I'm thinking this would sort the falling-apart issue.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great recipe..I should bookmark this especially under the lent folder when I am wandering around for good veg recipes :) Love the board and the silver plate :)
Shema | LifeScoops

Unknown said...

Good pics with a great recipe...I try a lot of patties without crumbs or egg, and I agree it does get hard to form the shapes...but yours has turned out well.
The weather's being good to us..thanks and have a great day.

Suja Manoj said...

Looks yummy,quick tea time snack,love the presentation.

Shruti J said...

Was just drafting my post on this n saw u posted it last day :) Co-incidence!!! Lovely appetizer or snack :)

Indu said...

They almost look like succulent meat patties! And a vegetarian dish that can look like that has to be look.

The Experimental Cook said...

What a great recipe for a picnic, just the thing to celebrate 3 weeks of clear, haze free days in Singapore.

Unknown said...

i love the combination of ingredients here such a fun appetizer :)

easyfoodsmith said...

I am sure this combo must have tasted great together. Lovely clicks.

The trick I use to hold together veg patties is to use a slice or two (depending on the ratio of other ingredients) of a day old bread, moisten it slightly with water, squeeze it and crumb it in the mix. The mixture comes beautifully together :-)

great-secret-of-life said...

looks so yummy .. great combo.. love the shots

Unknown said...

nice blog!! visit mine too!! haffa's kitchen