POTATO AND PEAS PATTIES – ALOO MATAR TIKKI

This is a simple and do-able recipe. Unlike aloo cutlets, tikkis are not deep fried, but are griddle-cooked. They are healthy, too, with the goodness of green peas, ginger and fresh cilantro.

Ingredients:

4-5 large potatoes

1 cup fresh/frozen peas

Finely chopped ginger

1 de-seeded and finely chopped green chilly

Cumin/zeera seeds

coriander powder 3 teaspoons

fresh chopped coriander/cilantro

asofoetida/hing

1/2 teaspoon red chilly powder

salt to taste

Method:

Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker, making sure they are not raw from the inside.

In a separate wok or kadhai, put 3 teaspoons of oil, cumin seeds, some hing/asoefoetida, and chopped ginger. Once the spices begin to sputter, add the cup of  fresh or frozen peas. Cook the peas, and add salt to taste. Also add red chilli powder to taste. Cover and let it cook. Turn off the gas when cooked, and leave it covered.

Now peel the boiled potatoes. In a large bowl, mash up the potatoes till there are no lumps. Add salt, chopped green chillies, coriander powder, and fresh chopped coriander/cilantro. Mix all the spices well into the mashed potato mixture.

Now, roughly mash the cooked peas with a ladle.

Take a handful of the spiced potato mixture in your palm, and dig a small dent into its middle. Stuff a sufficient amount ofthe roughly mashed peas mixture into this dent. Now, seal the tikki on top with more potato mixture.

In this way, make all the potato and peas mixture into stuffed tikkis.

Heat a tawa on medium high and spread cooking oil on it with a kitchen towel/tissue. Remember, we are not deep frying, so you don’t need too much oil. Now, place the tikkis on the tawa one by one, flattening them softly while laying them on the surface. Thinner, flatter tikkis will come out crispier.

Reduce the flame and let the tikkis cook thoroughly on one side. When they are brown and cooked on one side, turn over with a spatula and let them cook on the other side. You can drizzle a little more oil onto the tawa if it’s getting sticky.

Once the tikkis are cooked evenly on both sides, they are ready to serve.

Serve with coriander chutney, tamarind chutney, or ketchup!

An un-fried, delicious  treat, and a sure shot hit at your next gathering!