First Post & Paneer Cutlets

I don't think I can call myself a good cook. My mom is considered a great cook and everyone loves anything she makes. I wish I'd learned more from her before I moved to the US. Now she guides me over the phone and even though it helps, I'm never satisfied with how the dish turns out. This is my way of documenting some of my mom's recipes and some of my attempts at trying out new dishes.

I love the Williams-Sonoma store...the beautiful pots and pans, the bakeware, the glassware and so many fun kitchen things that any cook would love. They also have a series of books and I had picked one up a few months back. It's called Savouring India by Julie Sahni. The book has beautiful pictures for almost all the recipes which is always such a big plus. The best part however is that all the recipes are so simple and appealing...it very rarely happens that I feel like trying every recipe in a book. It's a perfect book for a new bride or someone just starting to cook Indian food. The recipes are very authentic and not "Americanized" as you'd expect.

This is the second recipe that I've tried from this book with a few changes to the original (the first one was a simple dal with panch phoron).

Paneer Cutlets

2 potatoes, boiled and mashed
3/4 cup shredded or crumbled paneer
plain bread crumbs-enough to bind the mixture (I used the store bought variety)
Juice from half a lime
1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 tsp red chilli flakes
1/3 cup finely chopped spring onion (both white and green parts)
finely chopped cilantro
salt to taste

Combine all the ingredients with a little bit of oil and mix well. The mix should form a ball. Divide it into equal sized balls and form round patties. Shallow fry each in a little bit of oil. Serve hot with mint chutney.

The cutlets were very tasty and we really enjoyed them a lot. I think they would also go well as ragda pattice cutlets.