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SPICY BEETROOT CUTLETS – Revisited

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets

We were served these spicy South Indian beetrootย  cutlets as a starter on holiday at Visalamย in Chettinadย in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. We all loved them, even the children so I asked the chef to do me a demo one afternoon.

spicy beetroot cutlets doindubai finished cutlet ready to fry

We make these regularly, they are a great accompaniment to any curry dish or you could have on their own with a salad for a light but different lunch.

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets finished cutlet

Fresh beetroot is extremely reasonably priced here in Dubai and widely available from the fresh vegetable section of most supermarkets and packed with vitamins and minerals. This is the only surefire way I can get my kids to eat this vegetableย !

Ingredients for Beetroot Cutlets

  • ย fresh beetroots, 1 large or 2 medium, peeled and grated like cheese
  • garlic clovesย  3 or 4ย crushed in a mortar and pestle
  • curry leavesย  small handful of fresh washedย 
  • ย onion 1 mediumย chopped up finely
  • Small handful of freshย coriander leavesย for garnishing
  • potato 1 largeย boiled and cubed

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets raw ingredients

The spices / flavourings for Beetroot Cutlets

  • 1/4 tsp of red chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Spicy beetroot cutlets doindubai spice box with curry leaves

For frying the Beetroot Cutlets you’ll needย 

  • Plate of freshย breadcrumbs
  • Simpleย flour and water paste or some tapioca flour
  • Anyย vegetable oilย for shallow frying the cutlets, sunflower is good

Spicy Beetroot Cutlet Doindubai raw beetroot

Method to make the Beetroot Cutletsย 

  • Fry the onions till golden brown
  • Add garlic and fry into the onions
  • Add the curry leaves and fry for a minute or two
  • Add the grated beetroot and all the spices, fry for about 5 minutes
  • Add the boiled, diced potato and mix well
  • Add salt and pepper to taste
  • Leave the thickish mixture to cool for a while
  • ย When cold, shape this mixture into small fishcake size cutlets or patties,
  • Dip into the flour/water paste
  • Fry for a couple of minutes on each side till dark ruby brown
  • Dry on kitchen paper, and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander to serve on a platter

QUICK Reminder of how to make Beetroot Cutletsย 

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SPICY BEETROOT CUTLETS RECIPE

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets

We were served these spicy South Indian beetroot  cutlets as a starter on holiday at Visalam in Chettinad in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. We all loved them, even the children so I asked the chef to do me a demo one afternoon.

spicy beetroot cutlets doindubai finished cutlet ready to fry

We make these regularly, they are a great accompaniment to any curry dish or you could have on their own with a salad for a light but different lunch.

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets finished cutlet

Fresh beetroot is extremely reasonably priced here in Dubai and widely available from the fresh vegetable section of most supermarkets and packed with vitamins and minerals. This is the only surefire way I can get my kids to eat this vegetable !

Ingredients for Beetroot Cutlets

  •  fresh beetroots, 1 large or 2 medium, peeled and grated like cheese
  • garlic cloves  3 or 4 crushed in a mortar and pestle
  • curry leaves  small handful of fresh washed 
  •  onion 1 medium chopped up finely
  • Small handful of fresh coriander leaves for garnishing
  • potato 1 large boiled and cubed

Spicy Beetroot Cutlets raw ingredients

The spices / flavourings for Beetroot Cutlets

  • 1/4 tsp of red chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Spicy beetroot cutlets doindubai spice box with curry leaves

For frying the Beetroot Cutlets you’ll need 

  • Plate of fresh breadcrumbs
  • Simple flour and water paste or some tapioca flour
  • Any vegetable oil for shallow frying the cutlets, sunflower is good

Spicy Beetroot Cutlet Doindubai raw beetroot

Method to make the Beetroot Cutlets 

  • Fry the onions till golden brown
  • Add garlic and fry into the onions
  • Add the curry leaves and fry for a minute or two
  • Add the grated beetroot and all the spices, fry for about 5 minutes
  • Add the boiled, diced potato and mix well
  • Add salt and pepper to taste
  • Leave the thickish mixture to cool for a while
  •  When cold, shape this mixture into small fishcake size cutlets or patties,
  • Dip into the flour/water paste
  • Fry for a couple of minutes on each side till dark ruby brown
  • Dry on kitchen paper, and sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander to serve on a platter

QUICK Reminder of how to make Beetroot Cutlets 

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CRISPY OKRA RECIPE – good for air frying

ย Okra is a vegetableย 

This crispy okra recipe is perfect for those tv munchies when you want to avoid crisps. Air Frying it is a super way of making it more healthy. We use a Ninja AF 100 Air Fryer.

Crispy Okra recipe DoinDubai Monica Kapila

Okra is a long, green, pod like vegetable with ridges down it’s sides and a small stalk at one end. Okra is also known as known as ladies fingers, bhindi, bamia, ochro or gumbo. The word okra though is West African in origin. Okra is used as a dish in it’s own right in Indian, Pakistani, Emirati, Iranian, African and some Southern American cuisines.

Cripsy_okra_drain_kitchen_paper_EAT_PIX

Availability of Okra

Okra is available all year round and very easy to find in most Dubai supermarkets in the fresh vegetables section. Ask for the Bhindi if you’re not sure.

Selection of Okra

Okra is best bought whilst it is firm and bright green in colour. Avoid pods that are limp and with brown marks on them. The bigger they are the tougher they are likely to be so an ideal size would be around 7 -10cm.ย If they don’t snap in half ย at the pointy bit at one end leave this pod and choose another.

Storage of Okra

Okra can stay for ย 3 or 4 days in a plastic bag in the fridge. ย But as with most food, the fresher it is when you cook it, the better it will be.

Preparation of Okra

Rinse under the tap whilst whole (not after slicing) and then dry thoroughly in a kitchen towel. Do not first cut and then wash your okra.ย It will become slimy and sticky. For this recipe then slice your okra into 2 or 4 pieces lengthways after chopping off and discarding the stalk. There are pictures for reference in my gallery below.

ย  Crispy Okra Recipe

Crispy fried okra

INGREDIENTS for Crispy Okraย 

Fresh okra : 300 g costs about Dhs 5 from most supermarkets

Vegetable oil for frying (I use Sunflower)

Spices

Cumin powder 1/2 teaspoon

Coriander powder 1/2 teaspoon

Turmeric powder 1/4 teaspoon

Gram flour or Chick pea flour 1 heaped tablespoon

salt 1/2 teaspoon

fresh black pepper 1/4 teaspoon

Red chilli powder 1/4 teaspoon

METHOD to make the Crispy Okra

  1. Wash and dry okra
  2. Chop off and discard the stalks
  3. Slice dried okra pods into 2 or 4 depending on size
  4. Place in a large bowl
  5. Add all the dry ingredients (spices and flour) to the bowl and mix well
  6. Leave to rest for 30 minutes or so in the fridge
  7. Heat up oil in a wok and prepare some kitchen paper on a plate
  8. Fry the okra slices in oil for about 3 minutes, use a kitchen timer
  9. Fry in batches till all the okra is fried then drain on kitchen paper
  10. You can add a small squeeze of lemon juice if you like. Serve with your favourite dip or with rice and curry as part of an Indian meal.

It takes about 1 hour 15 minutes altogether, allowing for 30 minutes marinading time. Would serve 4 people as a snack or side dish to have with curry and rice

Top Tip for this okra recipe or any Indian cookingย 

Get an Indian Spice box with a lid, easily available from places like Lulus, it’s much easier to use your spices with one of these. I suggest you add salt, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, red chilly powder and some mustard seeds. But that’s my suggestion, everyone’s will be a bit different, especially if you’re from the South of India!

Do you have a favourite Okra Recipe? Please let me know how you cook your okra in a comment. Also please tell me if this recipe worked for you.

Thank You

Monica

Most of our recipe projects originate on Instagram first, so follow us on the gram for the latest mainly healthy eating ideas!

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ORGANIC DUBAI : Getting back DOWN TO EARTH

Organic seems to be springing up everywhere in Dubai now, but often the organic tag comes with higher prices that we donโ€™t want to pay for everyday foods, welcome then to Down to Earth, a new organic grocery shop that doesnโ€™t specialize in selling a range of fresh produce on a regular basis but instead provides aย variety of versatile and essential store cupboard ingredients all of them organic, many of them from India but not exclusively so and an own label range thatโ€™s extremely sensibly priced. What did DoinDubaiย buy?

Brown RIce

Down to Earthโ€™s own label Brown Riceย at Dhs 24.00 for a 2 ย kilo bag, we donโ€™t eat white rice any more as we love the extra fibre and nuttier taste of brown rice. (takes a bit longer to cook though so remember to soak first)

Ragi flourย (high fibre millet based flour for making rotis or vegetable pancakes, thanks Chandrikaย for recommending this) Dhs 4.00 a bag.

Delicious apricot and ginger chutneyย Dhs 10 for a small jar, gorgeous as a relish but wonderfully clever with small pieces of feta on tiny crackers with drinks.

Apricot and Ginger

A packet of Australian Chia seedsย the new wonderfood : a bit more expensive, but easy to disguise in cereals and salads for husbands and kids alike.

And some Indian Rusk biscuits made with desi ghee and not butter, crunchy and not too sweet, again very reasonably priced and perfect with a cup of cardamom tea in the afternoon.

Iโ€™ve seen Nairnโ€™ s oatcakes closer to home but I managed to buy some Nairnโ€™s gluten free porridge oats from Down to Earth.

This was just an indication of the selection of items on sale at the store. So do yourself some good and in so doing benefit some ofย  theย  70, 000 Indian farmers who are part of the Morarka Organic foundation (established in Rajasthan in 1994) that started the Down to Earthย brand. The foundationโ€™s aim has been to create wealth for local communities by supporting sustainable initiatives at the grass roots level.

DoinDubaiย doesnโ€™t do babies anymore but if we did again weโ€™d recommend the baby foodย on offer at Down to Earth such as the rice and lentil pureedย risotto or the carrot kichdi.

New Superfood for all the family

Do call before you go as they may be moving premises and at the moment offer a wonderful delivery service (yes including to the Arabian Ranches !) if you spend a meager Dhs 100 ! Time to make the change to organic I thinkโ€ฆPlease mention DoinDubai if you visit and let me know what you bought.

Click here for what you NEED TO KNOW about getting back Down to Earth

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