Panko Crusted Buttermilk & Mushroom Croquettes | Easy Appetiser Recipe

Hello  all!!

Wish you a very happy 2015. I know I’m quite late in wishing you that. Though blogging makes me feel content inside, I know I have been absent for a very long time here. This was probably the longest break I took. Let me assure you the break was not intentional but sometimes there are other things which take a priority and blogging takes a back seat. I do not get time to sit and draft a post easily even if I cooked and clicked pictures.

To start off the first post of the year, I am sharing a very easy to make croquettes made using Mushrooms. It’s a very easy preparation that can be served as an evening snack or a tea time snack or as a starter/appetiser. But before I share the recipe, I just want to sum up the year that had gone by in very short.

I started 2014 on a very positive note and decided to lose some weight, followed a very strict diet and exercise plan for first five months of the year and managed to lose 8kgs of weight. Unfortunately, I could not continue the plan because of other health reasons. I attended a one day food photography work shop in January, which really helped me in understanding the framing of my pictures and also understanding the basics better.

I completed four years of ‘Only’ series of Events in August and the event was discontinued after that. In August, I also attended the first ever organised Indian Food Bloggers Meet at Bangalore. I got to know many more food bloggers  at a more personal level and it was a new learning experience for all of us attending the meet.

I was also nominated by Food Bloggers Association Of India as one of the best food blogs in the ‘General Food Blogs’ category. Apart from posting recipes, I did post reviews of restaurants and food related products too in the last year. My Plums stuffed five spice cheese balls recipe got posted in  December edition of Being Woman magazine.

That was summing up 2014 in short and now back to the croquettes. In this croquette preparation, I have tried two new things, the first being the buttermilk which not only provides a light tangy flavour to the preparation but also makes it very light. The second ingredient is the Japanese Panko Bread Crumbs which add a superior finish and an amazingly crunchy crust to the croquettes. It’s a very easy preparation to try in the kitchen and I’m providing a step wise description and my tips for the preparation.

Panko Crusted Buttermilk & Mushroom Croquettes

मशरूम    क्रोकेट

Preparation Time: 1hour | Frying Time:2-3mins/batch | Makes: 13-14 | Difficulty Level: Easy

 

Ingredients

1tbsp butter
1 large potato  boiled, peeled and grated
7-8 button mushrooms, cleaned and finely chopped
1 fat clove garlic, finely chopped
leaves of 7-8 sprigs of thyme
1/2tsp freshly crushed, black pepper corns
1-1/2tsp red chilli flakes
salt to taste
1-2tsp corn starch + 1/4cup corn starch
3/4 cup Panko Bread crumbs ( a Japanese variety of bread crumbs) or any bread crumbs
1/2 cup thick butter milk
oil for deep frying

Method

In a non stick pan on a low flame melt the butter and sauté the garlic to remove the raw smell.
Throw the thyme and tip in the mushrooms. Sprinkle salt and toss on a high flame. Salt enables the mushrooms to release water. Toss till the water dries.
Switch off flame and add black pepper corn and red chilli flakes. Mix.
To the cooled mushroom mixture add the salt, 1 to 2 teaspoon corn starch and potato. Mix thoroughly to form a lump free dough. The dough should be smooth and soft. Keep the salt a tad higher in the dough as no salt gets added to the crust.Avoid adding excessive corn starch as it will harden the croquette.
Divide the dough in 13-14 parts and shape them as cylinders. Chill for 30mins.
Heat oil for deep frying in a pan.
Roll the cylinders lightly in 1/4cup of corn starch and shake off the excess. Dip it in buttermilk and roll in the Panko bread crumbs.
Take a webbed frying ladle and immerse it in the hot oil. Slip the coated cylinders gently into the ladle. This prevents the croquettes from breaking and ensures even frying.
Fry only on high flame as frying ensures crisping of the crumbs and the light coat on the croquettes.
Remove on a kitchen towel and serve hot with mayonnaise and mustard sauce.

Tips:
Do not fry on a low flame as frying is only for making the crumbs crisp. Nothing needs to be cooked in the preparation. Also, low heat will cause more absorption of oil and chances are that the croquettes turn out soggy.
Do not add excess cornstarch to the mix else it will taste very starchy.