Indian-Style Potato Croquettes

Adapted from a recipe posted to alt.food.vegan by Fritz, who can't remember the original source, but adapted it quite heavily before posting anyway :) Some people might find that the amount of gram flour suggested here is too overpowering; I'm not a huge fan of the flavour of gram flour but I find this amount about right. You could reduce it by up to half without affecting the result unduly, but make sure to reduce the water too. Lynn on alt.food.vegan suggests adding at least a teaspoonful of whole roasted cumin seeds to this. I think that would be nice.

The mixture is best cooked immediately after putting together, since moisture can escape from the potatoes on storage, making it more watery, and thus harder to keep from sticking when cooking, although it's still usable with a little more care. The cooked patties store very well and are nice cold as well as hot.

Makes about 10 (2 or 3 make a nice light meal or breakfast)

• 4 medium-large potatoes (900g, 2lb) - boiled or steamed, and mashed (4 cups mashed)
• 1–2 tsp vegetable oil for sauteeing
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped (or pureed with pestle and mortar, if possible)
• 1 or 2 chillis, chopped (optional)
• 125g (4oz, 1 cup) gram flour (chickpea flour)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder (I'm not sure this is essential)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp freshly-ground garam masala
• 4 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro), or 1 Tbsp coriander chutney
• salt to taste
• 100–125ml water

1. Prepare the potatoes and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, and stir briefly until they begin to pop. Add the chopped onions and the chillies if using, and cook until soft, adding the chopped or pureed garlic a minute or so before the onions are done.

3. Mix the gram flour, baking powder, turmeric, garam masala, chopped coriander and salt in a large bowl. Slowly mix in water until you get the consistency of a cake batter. Add the mashed potatoes and the cooked onion mixture, and mix together well.

4. Form the mixture into patties the shape of burgers - resist the temptation to use wet hands, since unlike with many veggieburger mixes this makes it more, not less, likely to stick to your hands. Don't make them too thin, since the crispy outsides are really good.

5. Bake, grill (broil) or fry in minimal oil (my favourite), turning once, until well browned. Served hot or cold, with a nice chutney such as mango or tamarind, or a well-sauced curry dish such as dhal or dhansak.

Kake's (Vegan) Cookery Site - http://www.earth.li/~kake/cookery/
This page added 30 Jul 2002 - comments and questions to Kake L Pugh (kake@earth.li).