Green Tea Smoked Sprouted Finger Millet Cutlets | हरी चाय की महक वाले अंकुरित रागी कटलेट्स | Step Wise

Hello!!

Last few days went like a gush of wind. With guests around and children having vacation, I never got any ‘Me’ time plus the days passed away cooking, cleaning, talking and site seeing. We also went to the beach and played in the sand, the kid who never wanted to come to the beach wasn’t ready to come back home. Playing with mother nature is always a heartening experience.

At the beach we tried a few street foods or rather beach food, first we had the white peas sundal, then we all tasted a mix platter of fritters, later we had freshly fire roasted spiced sweet corn which was the star preparation for that day. And yes, on our way back we stopped at our favourite chaat corner and had ‘paani poori’ and ‘Aloo chaat’ too. Wish we could have more of such days in our life, it refreshed me internally.

I had picked up some cottage cheese to cook for my guests and somehow in all the cooking that I did, I never managed to use it. I knew I had to finish that, also I had sprouted the Ragi/finger millet. Now, Ragi is a  rich source of proteins and when used as a whole grain it’s nutritional value is enhanced. It has many essential amino acids (building blocks for proteins)  like isoleucine, Leucine, methionine and phenyl alanine which are not present in other starchy meals. Ragi is also a great source of iron making it beneficial for individuals with low haemoglobin levels. Because of it’s high nutritional value, I make it a point to add it frequently into our regular diet. (nutritional information courtesy: www.medindia.net)

I had a few thoughts running in my head which I had picked up watching cookery shows. I wanted to make a patty similar to Chef. Ajay Chopra and I also wanted to use Chef.Vikas Khanna’s idea of infusing green tea smoke. I fused both the ideas into one preparation and the resultant was this cutlet/patty. The mild aroma of the green tea added with the fresh flavours gone into the patty mix, resulted in an extremely healthy and yet a very tasty cutlet.

My kids gobbled up the cutlets which I had served with freshly made raw mango and mint chutney as their evening snack. It such a fulfilling experience to watch kids eating the healthy food heartily. This preparation is an excellent way of using finger millet and it makes a nice nutty, crunchy addition to the patty.

Green Tea Smoked Sprouted Finger Millet Cutlets

हरी चाय की महक वाले अंकुरित रागी कटलेट्स​

 

Preparation Time:30mins | Cooking Time: 5-7mins/batch | Serves:3-4| Makes: 12-14 pieces | Difficulty Level: Easy

 

Ingredients for Cutlets (in the order of use)

1/4cup sprouted finger millet/रागी

2medium, boiled, peeled & mashed potatoes

100gms cottage cheese, crumbled

2spring onion bulbs, chopped

2tbsp spring onion greens, chopped

3garlic pods, 2spicy green chillies and an inch piece ginger, crushed together

2tbsp coriander, chopped

salt to taste
1/2tsp oil

Ingredients For Smoke Effect

2 pieces charcoal

a steel bowl/ aluminium foil

2tbsp green tea

few drops oil

&

2-3tbsp bread crumbs

finally 2-3tsp oil for cooking

Method

In half a spoon of oil saute the garlic. Cool.
Take all ingredients for making cutlets and mix them together.

Burn the charcoal till it turns orange in colour.

Take the mix in bowl and create a well inside. Place a steel bowl or aluminium foil in the well and put the burning charcoal in it.

Throw the green tea & a few drops of oil on the charcoal and close the bowl completely with the lid. Remove the lid after 3-4mins, do not keep more, we just want the green tea flavour to infuse the mix.

Remove the charcoal bowl carefully with a tong as it’s very hot.

Add the bread crumbs to the mix now. Add just enough bread crumbs which are enough to absorb the moisture and bind the mix. Divide the mix into 12-14 equal parts and shape them to a patty each.

Heat a non stick griddle or pan and put a tea spoon of oil and place 4-5 pieces at the same time. Cook on both the sides on a medium flame till golden or griddle marks are seen. Take due precautions while flipping so that the patty does not break.

Serve hot with salad and mint-raw mango chutney.