CELEBRATING ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN: PUMPKIN PANEER CUTLETS

Autumn is not a very conspicuous season in a city like Mumbai. But, there are indications of its arrival. Autumn or ‘patjhad’, as my mother puts it, the time for the customary shedding of deciduous tree leaves is a beautiful season in its own right and with it comes beautiful produce of different kinds of gourds, leafy vegetables, tubers and much more.
​So, on my market tour this morning I spotted a lovely mini pumpkin and could not resist the temptation to buy it. But, I did not want to churn this into a soup yet, so I used a part of it to make a yum evening snack of cutlets. In order to balance the sweetness of the pumpkin, I paired it with cottage cheese and threw in some basic spices for piquancy.

So here is how the recipe goes:

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25-30 minutes
Makes: 10-12 cutlets

Ingredients:
For the cutlet mixture:

• 2 cups Grated pumpkin
  
• 1 tbsp White butter (makkhan)
  
• 1 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
  
• 1 Fresh red/green chilli (medium-sized), finely chopped
  
• ½ tsp Crushed black peppercorns
  
• ½ tsp Salt or to taste
  
• 1 cup Crumbled cottage cheese (paneer)
  
• 8-10 Fresh basil leaves (medium-sized)
  
• 1 tbsp Breadcrumbs
  

For frying the cutlets:

• 1 cup Breadcrumbs1 Egg (large)
  
• 1 tsp Water
  
• A small pinch of salt
  
• Oil for shallow frying
  

Method:
For the cutlet mixture:

1. Heat a saucepan on medium to low flame and add the butter to it.
   
2. Add the garlic and chilli once the butter melts and fry for about 30 seconds.
   
3. Add grated pumpkin and fry for 5 minutes or until it softens.
   
4. Add peppercorns, salt to the pumpkin and mix well.
   
5. Pull off the stove and let cool to room temperature.
   
6. Tear the basil leaves to shreds and along with the cheese, breadcrumbs add it to the cooled pumpkin mixture.
   
7. Shape the mixture in palm-sized cutlets of 1 cm thickness.
   

For frying the cutlets:

1. Spread the breadcrumbs in a shallow plate.
   
2. Coat each cutlet in the breadcrumbs evenly and keep aside.
   
3. Beat the egg along with water and salt.​ Keep aside.
4. Heat about a tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan for each round (I fry 6 cutlets at once since I have a large pan) of shallow frying on medium to low flame.
   
5. Dip the crumb-coated cutlets in the beaten egg and add to the frying pan once the oil is hot.
   
6. Cook the cutlets for a few minutes on each side until a nice golden crust develops.
   
7. Serve piping hot with tomato ketchup.
   

​Do try the recipe and let me know how it turned out.
Till then, HAPPY COOKING…