Cheera (Keerai) Cutlet

The name got you interested isn’t it?The same interest (or was that curiosity?) was the reason I tried out this dish.All of you know about my dislike for greens and how I struggle to gobble down a greens dish just because its healthy!I have started liking dishes with greens only if they are disguised well,like Palak paneer.Next on my list is soups with greens ,but that’s for another time.

Coming to this cutlet,I came across this recipe in my ever-growing recipe collection.Got a bunch of cheera(keerai) and set about making it.My ignorance is the reason why am not able to say which keera I used;-).This recipe screams “healthy food”,mainly because it uses cheera as the main ingredient and second,it uses channa dal as the binding agent instead of the so-called-fatty potatoes.Enough rant about the goodness of this cutlet..make it and taste it to believe it!!

Recipe Marathon – Day 21
Cheera (Keerai) Cutlet

Ingredients

Cheera(Keerai) – 1 bunch
Channa dal – 1 cup
Onions – 2,finely chopped
Green chillies – 2,finely chopped
Ginger – 1’ piece,finely chopped
Coriander leaves – 1 cup,finely chopped
Chilly powder – 1 tsp
Pepper powder – 1 tsp
Bread – 5-6 slices,chopped into small pieces
Lime juice – of 1 lime
Grated coconut – ¼ cup
Bread crumbs as required
Salt to taste
Oil as required

Method

Chop the greens coarsely and dry fry in a kadai till it gets cooked-grind to a smooth paste.
Cook the channa dal just enough(shouldn’t be mushy),drain the water and keep aside-grind to a coarse paste when cooled.
In a kadai,add a tsp of oil and sauté onions,green chillies,ginger and grated coconut till they become evenly brown in colour.
Add pepper powder,chilly powder,chopped bread,lime juice and salt to taste.
Add the dal paste and greens paste to this and mix well.
Take a small portion in your hands and shape it as a cutlet.
Dip it in bread crumbs on both sides and shallow fry on a non-stick pan adding minimal oil.
When both sides are evenly browned,remove and serve hot!! More than a snack,it tastes great with rice as a side-dish,like this one.

My disastrous attempt at making them Heart-shaped!

A peep into my fellow Marathoners kitchen!!

1) DK
2) Siri
3) Srivalli
4) Ranji
5)PJ
6)Curry Leaf
7)Medha
8)Priya
9)Bhawna
10)Raaji
11)Ruchii
12)Anu
13)Kamala
14)Roopa
15)Rekha
16)Divya M
17)Lakshmi
18)Raaga
19)Lakshmi Venkatesh
20)Sripriya
21)Viji
22)Kamalika
23)Pavani
24)Karuna
25)Roochi