Beef Cutlet

              There are many Ifthar dishes I had postponed posting due to unavailability of time... Ramadan is the month you cannot afford much time sitting before the computer and clicking away with ease. The mornings are spent with prayers and worships of Allah and the after noons are busy with preparing mouthwatering delicacies for breaking the fast. So I had withheld many dishes from posting last Ramadan hoping that I could post them later... Time just went by... and looking back I could see I had posted only very few of the Ifthar delights. It is almost time for the next Ramadan. The thought came just as my better half was commenting about Beef Cutlet and how he could wait until Ramadan to eat one... (Ssh... Beef Cutlet is his weakness... he never admits it... But I can see from the number of cutlets he gulps down that he enjoys immensely ;) )

              So I thought it's time to make some. There are two advantages, I can take the pics and he can have it to his fill. My mom used to make it mixed with mashed potatoes, green chillies, onions and minced beef and we used to enjoy it so much. When I was a boarding student at Thrissur we used to have beef cutlets from a small shop near to our school. I used to make up my mind that I would eat only one when I go there, but every time ended up buying two or three. They were so yummy... they just melted in the mouth. Taking one bite, I could see the cutlet was red inside. So I inferred they added beetroots in them. So back home I tweaked my mothers recipes with an extra addition of cooked and mashed beetroots in them and Hooray!! they turned out so much more yummy... Nowadays my mom too makes it by adding beetroots in them.

Here is the recipe....

Things you need:

250 g fresh beef, cut into small pieces, washed and drained
1 large onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 sprigs of curry leaves, sliced into small strips
2 green chillies, cut into small slices
1 medium sized potato
1 small beetroot / half a medium sized beetroot
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp black pepper powder
1 egg white
Coriander leaves (optional)
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs or rusk powder
1/2 cup veg. oil

Procedure:

1) Cook the beef in a pressure cooker adding half teaspoon of red chilli powder, 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder, one tsp of coriander powder and adequate salt, until moderately cooked. Mince it in a mixer, after cooling and keep aside. You can alternately use minced beef and cook as instructed.

2) Cook the potato and beetroot with skin in a pressure cooker adding adequate water. After it gets cooked drain on a mesh and peel them. Then mash them in a blender or using potato masher and keep aside.

3) Heat one tablespoon of oil in a sauce pan and add onion to it and saute until transparent.Then add the garlic and green chillies and saute. When the aroma comes out, add the curry leaves, 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder, 1/2 teaspoon of red chilli powder, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder and 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala powder and saute. Then add the minced beef and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the mashed potato and beetroot and mix well adding adequate salt.

4) Take lemon sized balls from the mix and make round patties about half an inch thick with your palm and keep aside.

5) Beet the egg white in a bowl. Heat a deep heavy bottomed wok and add remaining oil to it. When the oil is well heated, fry the patties by dipping them in the egg white batter and then rolling them in bread crumbs. Using egg white instead of whole egg helps prevent the oil from frothing up. Fry until golden brown.

6) Remove from oil and drain on a kitchen tissue. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with tomato ketchup. Enjoy :)

         And I am off to Dubai on a week's vacation with family.. So next week will be a no post week. See you all with new recipes again, Insha Alla.. Till then.. bye. Take care..