Crispy Carrot Patty to make you crunchier!

Crunchy outside, moist inside-carrot patty with coriander, red onion n chickpea flour

When you got 20 minutes in your hand n your memory tells you that you've carrots in the freeze, make this patty! And you will see what was missing in your life!

And really all you need are carrots, bunch of coriander leaves, eggs, chickpea flour/Besan/gram-flour, garlic, whole cumin seeds or Shahi cumin n that’s it! Off course salt n basic flavor spices like chili powder or cumin powder, but if you don’t have it, they will still be amazing! Trust me.

                                          I first made them 6 months ago when one day I had many carrots looking at me for no apparent reason and I was either in a cooking spree or severely hungry, I can’t remember, so I grated them, add chopped coriander leaves n stalk, chopped garlic finely, some chopped onion, added an egg to add richness, flavor, moisture and some gram flour, when I formed the patties and fried them in the pan they smelled so different n good. When I took them off after making them crisp on both sides and finally bite into one I knew that something good n new has come up in the world. So yummy and satisfying they were. And that’s how they were born! In a hurry, in need, in hunger n for the love or carrots.

                                                              When I cook like this I usually think of this line ‘Life in Simplicity’-the simplest of flavors coming together in harmony with each other and its more than cooking, it’s about life the simplest of things or simple persons coming together with their own qualities, adding bit by bit in balance to create something amazing, it does sound like the qualities of a good team. One of the most important things is the sense of balance in cooking, in life, in everything.

                                                                                                                                                               Oh! These carrot patties are so good with yogurt deep, in here I have added ‘Chaat Masala’ to heighten the flavor of the yogurt, chaat masala is an Indian masala mixture, it tastes tangy, salty plus the flavors from all the spices in it, there are about almost 10 spices in it altogether, you can find them in Indian food item stores or Pakistani. If you are completely new to chaat masala think of it as flavored salt. So when I dipped the crunchy patties in the yogurt and had my bite, it was a burst of beautiful flavors in harmony.

                                                                                                                                        You can pair them with any sauce or dip you like: tomato ketchup, honey mustard sauce, coriander chutney and mayo or without any of them, they taste superb on their own. You can eat them as a snack, appetizer, eat them with rice or with a salad.

Since the time when I made them first, I have never stopped making them; this has become something to look forward to whenever I have bunch of carrots in the house. I love the combination of coriander leaves and the garlic with the grated carrot; you can use parsley, a bit of mint, basil and see how it comes out. Now I have used ‘Shahi Jeera’ in the recipe which literally means ‘Royal Cumin’. This version of cumin is similar in flavor with cumin, slightly less strong than normal cumin seeds and by appearance the seeds look thinner n long. If you only have cumin seeds in your home, then use half of the amount of shahi cumin mentioned in the recipe.

                    If you don’t have gram flour/besan, you can substitute it with rice flour, plain flour, corn-flour or whole-wheat flour. Each will produce a slight difference in taste and texture.

                                      Time has come to tell you the amazing recipe. Do make them and you will realize what I am talking about in here.

The Recipe:  You will need

For the Patties

250 gm carrot

50 gm coriander leaves/6 tbsp chopped leaves n stalk

1 medium egg

2 green chilies-finely chopped

1 medium red onion-finely chopped

1 tbsp of shahi jeers/shahi cumin seeds/ ½ tbsp whole cumin seeds

2-3 medium clove garlic-grated

½ cup gram flour/6-7 tbsp of gram flour

Salt to taste

Red chili powder- ¼ tsp

Cumin powder- ¼ tsp

½ cup of vegetable oil for frying

For the yogurt dip

100 gm yogurt (full-fat preferably)

½ tsp chaat masala

½ tsp chopped coriander leaves

1 tsp grated carrot (saved from the grated carrot)

1. Peel the carrots, then grate them on the medium side on a grater, don’t grate them on the smallest grater, they will become mushy. Be careful while grating, when you reach the last quarter on the grater, pay attention, don’t grate your finger, do it slowly.

2. Finely chop the red onion, finely chop the coriander stalks n the leaves, grate the garlic cloves, chop the green chilies finely, then mix all of them with the grated carrot and esp. rub the grated garlic all over the grated carrot nicely. Scatter the shahi cumin seeds over this mixture and mix again.

3. Break the egg and add it to the mixture, mix well, next add the chili n cumin powder n the gram flour and mix well. We are looking for a consistency where the mixture just begins to hold shape when you shape them in your hands, not too stiff  and not too loose that it falls apart very easily, so adjust by adding  little more gram flour if you feel it is too loose. Add the salt and mix well, taste it and adjust.

4. Heat a shallow frying pan on high heat, then add about 5-6 tbsp of oil in the pan, let it get hot on a medium flame, once hot reduce the flame to low. Now take 1 heaped tbsp of the mixture in your palm, first make a ball of it, then press the ball to make a patty. Now place it carefully in the pan, it should begin to sizzle, keeping the flame low make the patties one by one and place them in the pan. Once done rotate the pan so that oil touches all the sides of the patties. Give them about 7-9 minutes, with 2 spoons turn some of them in between  to see how much they have browned, if you see they have browned a bit you can turn them or you can give that side 2 more minutes so that they develop a richer brown color, this will make them crunchier. When they have reached that level of brown, turn them over to the other side, add 1-2 tbsp of oil in the pan and put the heat up to high for 20 seconds and shake the pan to distribute the oil all over. Now reduce the heat to low and give them about 4-5 minutes. Check them by turning over if they have browned, this side doesn't have to brown that much like the other side, keep it less browned  and so take them off in plate.

5.  For the yogurt dip, put all the ingredients together and whip up with a spoon. That’s it!

Oh! Now the time has come to bite into them, I know you couldn't have waited this far, you already had your bite as soon as they came out of the pan. Yummm…Aren't they? Bon Appetit.