Recipe: Hariyali Tikkis

Making vegetable tikkis (patties) is a great way to use up left over vegetables. Tikkis can be served by themselves as an appetizer, with ketchup or chutney; made into tikki chaat (with chhole, yogurt, sev, and chutneys); or made into sandwiches, with chutneys spread on the bread - add a piece of lettuce and a slice of tomato if you like. (I love to layer the sandwich like this: slather pudina (cilantro-mint) and imli (tamarind) chutneys on the bread, add a slice of red onion, a slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce, one tikki, and a hot-and-sweet pickled peppadew. Yum.)

Most vegetables will do: spinach, green peas, green beans, carrots, etc. You can even mix in cooked lentils. The main idea is to create a pan-fried or baked patty with some ginger-and-chilli-spiced cooked vegetables, using mashed potato and egg to bind. My mother makes fish tikkis, using boiled and seasoned fish in place of the vegetables; fish tikkis require a bit less potato, since fish itself has some binding ability. Another method is to stuff the mashed potato base of the tikki, like with cheese or ground meat. Basically, you can make all kinds of tikkis.

Hariyali Tikkis (makes enough tikkis for about 4 people as an appetizer)

1 Cup mixed vegetables, finely chopped/diced (e.g., 1/4 Cup peas, 1/4 Cup green beans, 1/4 Cup carrots, 1/4 Cup spinach)
1/2 a small red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. minced ginger
1 green chilli, minced
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1/2 tsp. amchur (dried mango powder)
1 tbsp. dhania (ground coriander seed)
2 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
2 medium mashed potatoes
1-2 eggs
olive oil
salt and black pepper to taste
optional: corn meal or bread crumbs

Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, ginger, and green chilli and stir-fry until the onion is translucent. Add the red chilli powder, amchur, and dhania and stir fry until fragrant. Add the mixed vegetables and stir-fry until just cooked, adding salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and mix in the fresh cilantro. Transfer the vegetable mixture to a mixing bowl and add mashed potatoes, eggs, and additional salt and pepper. Using hands, knead everything together until well mixed. For each tikki, form a ball and press it into a patty about the diameter of a cracker. If you like crispier tikkis, dredge each in corn meal or bread crumbs. Heat 1/2 tsp. olive oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat, and pan-fry each tikki for a few minutes on each side until golden brown.