Til-Kobi (Sesame-Cabbage) Cutlets

In the fridge, there was an assortment of vegetables in various quantities that needed a fitting farewell.
Nothing more glorious than to end in a scrumptious cutlet, an all-time favourite savoury snack. For vegetables, that is.

Usually cutlets are either deep fried or shallow fried. But my kitchen is a fry-free zone, so I baked'em.

They were wonderful, the crust that formed was just perfect.
Most of the cutlets disappeared as is. With the others, the kids made a desi-burger.

The next time I make these, an accompanying chutney such as this or this would be nice.

Til-Kobi Cutlets
(the quantities are approximate)

4 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 cup vegetables (carrots, beans, corn etc.) either grated or finely chopped
1 large potato, steam and grated
10-12 stems cilantro, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, de-seeded and finely chopped
1 -2 tsp garlic-ginger paste
1 tsp amchur
1-2 slices bread (more if required)
1 tsp sugar
salt, to taste
1-2 tbsp oil + more to drizzle on the cutlets
bread crumbs and sesame seeds for coating


Mix all ingredients except the bread crumbs and the sesame seeds.
Set it aside for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Depending on how much the dough sweats, add more bread slices to get a dough that can formed into cutlets.
Do a taste test and accordingly adjust the salt and amchur.
Form the cutlets and let them rest for a bit as you prepare two bowls, one filled with bread crumbs and the other with sesame seeds.
First, lightly coat the cutlets in the bread crumbs. Then, gently press the breaded cutlet in the bowl of sesame seeds.
Arrange the prepared cutlets on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Drizzle a bit of oil on each cutlet. (Do not use a pastry brush to brush the oil; it doesn't work. The sesame seeds get caught in the brush leaving you with a mess.)
Bake for 10-12 minutes, flip the cutlets and bake for another 10-12 minutes.

These cutlets are on their way to the Gateway City as my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables series.

Radish & Red Rice Pulao

The front of the packet said 'Red Rice from Sri Lanka', the flip side had a huge label 'Brown Rice'. This I had to try!
Not having any experience cooking red rice, I treated it as I could brown rice.

The addition of red radish made it a legit 'R' dish for Nupur's blog event.

Don't let the blah appearance fool you, the pulao was quite tasty. The radishes added a nice crunch. The nuttiness and the texture is like brown rice. The benefits of using such an hulled rice are well know. More about that here.

Radish & Red Rice Pulao

Ingredients
2 cups red rice, washed and soaked in warm water for 30-45 minutes
4-5 red radishes (halved and sliced into crescents)
2 tbsp tomato paste, thinned with a bit of water
3 tsp oil
1 tsp garam masala (or your choice of masala)
salt, to taste
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
4+ cups water, warm

Method
Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai (wok), when hot add the radish.
Cook the radishes slightly. With a slotted spoon transfer the radishes to plate/ dish.
Add the rest of the oil to the kadai.
Drain the rice and add to the oil along with the masala and tomato paste. Saute a bit.
Add the water and mix well.
Cook covered for 6-7 minutes.
Add the radishes and salt. Continue cooking for another 5-6 minutes.
Do a taste and texture test. The rice should be slightly chewy (it will never seem fully cooked the way white rice does).
Add more water or salt, as required.
Garnish with cilantro.
Enjoy!

Serving Suggestions
We enjoyed our pulao with a raita.
But since the pulao tastes good even at room temperature, it would make a nice appetiser if you serve small balls of the pulao in lettuce cups like this:

Variations
Instead of tomato paste, you can use lemon juice. The redness of the pulao will be slightly reduced.
Any vegetable can be substituted for the radish.
Add some beans and you have a one dish meal.

This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables series.