“Tikki” is nothing but a small cutlet, patty or croquette. The basic recipe of an Aloo Tikki is a patty made out of mashed potatoes mixed with an array of spices. So be creative and spice up this basic recipe with any add-ons, let it be vegetables or spices. It’s kind of like…a little of this, and a little of that all tossed together and the results are a delicious party in your mouth. Just make sure you have enough potato or some extra breadcrumbs to act as a binding agent and you can never go wrong in making this recipe. Today I’m going to share my creation of Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki with bold flavours of my favourite spices.
This tongue tickling Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki can be jazzed up with chutney or ketchup and served as an appetiser. Alternatively, you can make a meal by sandwiching the tikki between bread slices slathered with some green chutney or you can top them with cooked chole, chopped onions and assortment of chutneys to recreate the best Indian street food experience.
Spicy Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki, with its crispy outer layer and a soft inner layer is a real treat to taste buds at anytime. It’s so delicious that the thought of it gets you droolin. This simple recipe uses shallow frying to get crispy outer layer that covers soft and spicy inner crust of potatoes, veggies, paneer and spices.
Off to the recipe for Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki !
Step-by-Step process in making Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki:
- Boil potatoes with some water in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles and peel them.
- Chop all the required vegetables and set aside all the dry ingredients. I chose to use tricoloured capsicums since I love those vibrant colours. Look how gorgeous they look ;).
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add ginger, garlic and green chillies and sauté for a minute.
- Add chopped spring onions. Stir till translucent for a minute.
- To this add finely chopped capsicum, stir for a minute over high heat. Do not overcook them. You should be able to feel the crunch of the veggies.
- Add chilli powder and sauté for a minute and turn off the heat.
- Mash potatoes without any lumps in a large bowl.
- Grate or crumble paneer and add to the mashed potatoes.
- Add generous amounts of finely chopped coriander and chives to the above mixture.
- Add amchur powder, chaat masala, garam masala powder and salt.
- Mix everything to a smooth and pliable mixture. There should be no lumps. In case the mixture is slightly lose, add some breadcrumbs to remove excess moisture (check notes below the post). Finally adjust salt if required.
- Now take some mixture in your hands, shape them into even sized balls.
- Take some flour in a separate bowl, add salt and mix with water to form a smooth runny batter.
How to make tikkis?
- Take a few slices of day old bread, cut into small cubes and run it in a food processor until finely chopped to get fresh breadcrumbs. Transfer to a plate.
- Now take each ball, dip in the batter, roll over the breadcrumbs to coat the surface and gently tap with your fingers to flatten them.
- Repeat the process for all the balls.
Smear some oil in a non-stick griddle over medium heat and shallow fry all the tikkis till golden brown and crisp on both sides.
- Repeat the process and shallow fry all the tikkis. Ensure to fry on medium heat.
- Serve hot tikkis with tomato ketchup, a spicy homemade sweet and sour tomato chutney, green sauce or any dip of your choice.
The burst of flavours as you crush this crispy patty into your mouth along with the green chutney and spicy homemade sweet and sour tomato sauce is a heavenly experience.
I reserved some of this yummy filling for another dish. Wait to see what it is!! 🙂
Stay tuned and do come back for the chutneys…..
A quick Summary:
Capsicum Aloo Paneer Tikki
Ingredients
- 1 Table spoon oil
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 4 garlic pods finely chopped
- 3 to 4 green chillies
- ½ cup of spring onions finely chopped
- 1 cup capsicum tri coloured, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon of red chilli powder
- 4 to 5 Potatoes boiled peeled and mashed
- 1 cup grated or crumbled Paneer
- ½ cup coriander finely chopped
- ¼ cup chives finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon amchur powder or dry mango powder
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- Required salt
- Other ingredients:
- 2 to 3 Tablespoons all purpose flour or maida diluted to form a batter in ½ cup water with a pinch of salt
- 1 cup breadcrumbs prepared from day old bread slices processed in a food processor until finely chopped
- Required oil for shallow frying tikkis or patties
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Sauté for a minute and then add spring onions. Stir till translucent for a minute.
- Now add finely capsicum, stir for a minute.
- Add chilli powder and sauté for a minute and turn off the heat.
- Add this mixture to the mashed potatoes.
- Crumble or grate paneer and add to the mashed potatoes.
- Add generous amounts of finely chopped coriander and chives to the above mixture.
- Add amchur powder, chaat masala, garam masala powder and salt.
- Mix everything to a smooth and pliable mixture.
- Adjust salt if required.
- Now take some mixture in your hands, shape them into even sized balls and set aside.
- Now dip each ball in the flour batter, roll over the breadcrumbs to coat the surface and gently tap with your fingers to flatten them.
- Repeat the process for all the balls.
- Now smear some oil in a non-stick griddle over medium heat and shallow fry all the tikkis till golden brown and crisp on both sides.
- Serve hot tikkis with tomato ketchup, spicy homemade sweet and sour tomato sauce, green chutney or any dip of your choice.
Notes
2, Ginger and garlic quantities are purely personal choice, so feel free to use to suit your taste.
3. Boiled potatoes should be mashed well without any lumps.
4. You can boil potatoes using any method, though I have used pressure cooker method.
5. Sometimes I make tikkis with all raw ingredients with no sautéing involved, but in that case I finely chop everything. Do try this sometime because it tastes very refreshing.
6. In case the Potato mixture becomes too soft and loose, you can add some breadcrumbs or corn flour or gram flour to the potato mixture and mix to remove excess moisture.
7. Fry tikkis over medium heat to get a crispy outer crust.
Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma