Aloo Tikki or Potato Cutlet

When you live in India, and are part of some sort of community, you rarely invite people over for tea.  People just happen to stop by during their evening strolls, which would quickly turn into social visits.  And when are you sitting around chatting having just woken up from your afternoon nap, you need a little something to snack on.  During these expected but last minute visits, we would usually serve freshly fried aloo tikkis with cookies and chai.

I tried to lighten up the traditional tikkis a couple of different ways.  First, I do not deep fry, but pan fry them.  Also, instead of using mainly potatoes, I tend to use equal amounts of greens which doesn't really lose the effect of the traditional cutlets, but in turn adds a ton of flavor.

Ingredients

3 medium sized potatoes, boiled and skinned
1/2 cup green peas
1/4 cup of cilantro or parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 cup of dandelion greens or spinach or kale,  roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp red chili powder or paprika

Cut the ends of the slice of bread, and soak it in 1/2 sup of water for a minute.  Take the bread out and squeeze the liquid out of it.  Place the boiled potatoes in a bowl.  Add the cilantro (or parsley), greens, jalapeno, soaked bread, salt, pepper, red chili powder and mash together with a fork. Put a teaspoon of oil in your palms, and take 1 Tablespoon of mixture and roll in your hands.  Repeat this until you use up all the mixture.

Heat 3 tablespoons of any ground nut or canola oil in a cast iron pan.  If you don't have one, you can use any non-stick pan or even a steel pan, but that is just more clean-up.   In my case, one of the few things that is in my kitchen and has been contributed by the boyfriend, is his well-seasoned cast iron pan.  I think he does it more to be prepared to go on a camping trip than to cater to my needs, but it works out either way =).  Keep the heat on Medium, and add the tikkis once the oil is hot enough so it sizzles.  Brown on each side for about 5 minutes, remove them from the pan and drain on a paper towel.

Eat immediately with some green chutney and a cup of chai.