Poha Cutlet || Flattened Rice Fritters

An easy to make vegan cutlet/fritter that is made with spiced mashed potato & flattened rice

Flattened rice is amazing for making a light quick-fix snack. It cooks fast and there are a lot of savory and sweet snacks that can be made in a short amount of time. A worthy addition to the next grocery list.

This recipe has a lot of ingredients of the traditional poha. It is almost like a different take on Poha with the potatoes as a base holding everything together. The spices used in this recipe are very Indian. There is the red chili powder along with coriander, both leaves and powder and cumin seeds. The spices can always be substituted with regional ones to have a more local flavor. These cutlets are really simple. It is just mixing all the ingredients and shaping the fritters. The one thing that needs a little attention is the flattened rice. It is quite thin and looses its texture when kept in water for a long time. A quick dip in water is all that is needed. The flattened rice, with the texture intact, give a slight crunch and the make the outer layer a little more crispy.

The detailed recipe is mentioned below. A snack that is very similar to this one is my Sabudana Vada or Tapioca Pearl Fritter (click here for the recipe)

Poha Cutlet Recipe

Ingredients

• Poha / Flattened Rice: 1 cup
• Potato: 1 large
• Onion: 1
• Crushed Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder: 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
• Chopped Coriander Leaves: 1 tbsp
• Coriander Powder: 1/4 tsp
• Lime juice: 1 tsp
• Salt
• Oil: 4 tbsp

Preparation

• Wash the flattened rice in water and drain the excess water
• Boil, peel and mash the potatoes
• Chop the onion into fine pieces

Lets start

• Take the mashed potato into a bowl and add the chopped onion and all the spices
• Add the moist poha and mix well
• Add salt & lime juice and mix well
• Take small portions of the mash and shape them into cutlets / fritters
• Heat a pan and pour a tablespoon of cooking oil and grease the pan
• Reduce the heat and shallow fry the cutlets on medium heat
• Add some oil on top of the cutlets and flip them so that they are cooked evenly
• Once done, remove the cutlets from the pan and place them on an absorbent paper to remove the excess oil
• Start the next batch after adding some oil on the pan

Note

• If the flattened rice is very thin then it can be just washed and quickly drained. If it is of a thicker variety than soak it in water for 2-4 mins before draining the water
• Different spices can be used based on the availability. Pepper or chopped green chilies can be used instead of red chili powder. Dry mango or garam masala powder or garlic powder can also be used
• Deep frying is always an option