After school snacks from my childhood
My mother had the best snacks waiting for us when my brother and I would come home from school. After the bus dropped us off outside our building in Mumbai, we’d discuss what snack mom had waiting for us. It was a daily surprise: chaat like bhel puri (a crunchy rice puff salad), sev puri (fried dough with boiled potatoes, chutneys and chickpea noodles), or vaghareli bread (tempered, spiced bread). Sometimes she’d make idli-sambar (steamed rice cakes with a lentil stew). Often, it was tikkis, made out of whatever fancied her that day.
What are tikkis?
Tikkis, also known as cutlets or patties, are a popular street food from the northern part of India. They are usually made with potatoes, spices, herbs and breadcrumbs, but they can be formed out of different kinds of vegetables or even cooked daals or lentils. They are typically eaten with a chutney, such as a cilantro chutney or date-tamarind chutney, but my kids like to eat them with ketchup.
How did we eat tikkis?
Sometimes, we would eat tikkis as patties in burger buns with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, lettuce and mayo. If there were no burger buns, then we would slap them between two slices of soft sandwich bread with butter and cilantro chutney. There is no right or wrong with tikkis. Enjoy them how you want!
For these tikkis, I am turning to beets. The bulbous root vegetable is extremely good for you, with a lot of vitamins and minerals. You’ll most commonly find red beets, which have a deep maroon color, in grocery stores. They have an acquired, earthy taste, which I happen to love! But you can find other varieties of beets at farmers’ markets, like yellow beets, which are sweeter in taste and great in salads.
How to use beets and beet greens?
You can boil, roast, saute or fry beets, but my favorite is roasting them to retain the color and moisture. (Check out my book, “Mumbai Modern,” for one of my beet dishes, Citrus and Beet Salad with Paneer Nuggets.) For these beet tikkis, you can roast the beets a day or two in advance, and store them in the fridge until ready to use. Don’t forget the flavorful beet greens: They’re often chopped and sauteed, but you can make them into a lovely pesto or chutney.
Zero waste recipe? Use those beet greens!
I dislike waste of any kind, so today’s recipe is a zero waste recipe. Use the beetroot to make the Beet Tikkis and the greens to make a very delicious chutney. I love recipes that use the vegetable in its entirety.
The beet green chutney is an easy one
Simply put all the ingredients in a high-speed blender and blitz until smooth. It is based on the cilantro chutney you’ll see in many Indian restaurants. I add beet greens instead, and a tad bit of Greek yogurt, for a lovely taste and texture. The chutney can be made a day or two in advance, stored in the fridge.
What are the ingredients of these beetroot tikkis?
The ingredients of these beet tikkis are:
- Red beets and potatoes: You can use yellow beets too. Beets are roasted and the potatoes are boiled.
- Cornmeal and rice flour: This adds texture and a bit of crunch on the outside
- Sesame seeds
- Alliums like : Ginger, garlic and green chili for flavor
- Cumin seeds
- Ground spices: like turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala, chaat masala
- Salt
- Cilantro
Once the beets are roasted and cooled, it’s easy to peel them, and then the tikkis come together within 30 minutes. There are a bunch of spices in the tikkis, which give them the oomph factor. Rice flour and sesame seeds add a bit of a crunch to the outside.
My kids have been loving the Beet Tikkis and taking them in burger buns for lunch. Talk about being the envy of other school kids — lip-smacking, homemade Beet Tikki burgers!
Frequently asked questions
- Should the beets and potatoes be completely smashed?
- Yes, that is why I grate the beets and potatoes so the final mixture is smooth and does not have any lumps.
- Can I boil the beets?
- The water content is more if you boil the beets, hence roasting is the best option.
- Can I roast the beets a day in advance?
- Yes you can roast the beets a day in advance.
- Can the beet tikkis be made a day ahead so that I can use it the next day?
- Yes, the beet tikkis can be made a day ahead. Cool them completely, and then store it in an airtight container in the fridge until the next day. Warm it up before using it for any kind of preparation.
Other recipes from the blog that are great for winter
If you make this recipe, please tag #thejamlab on Instagram and/or leave a comment on this blog post.
XO
Amisha
Beetroot Tikkis or Patties
Ingredients:
Beet Green Chutney:
- 2 heaped cups chopped beet greens
- ½ heaped cup chopped cilantro
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 serrano chile
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
Beetroot Tikkis:
- 3 medium red beets, washed and trimmed
- 2 medium potatoes, boiled and peeled
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 5 tablespoons rice flour
- 3 tablespoons sesame seeds (white or black, or combination of both)
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 inch ginger, grated
- 1 serrano chili, finely chopped (depending on how spicy you like it)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1½ teaspoons chaat masala
- 1½ teaspoons table salt
- ⅓ heaped cup finely chopped cilantro
Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Cilantro leaves, for garnish
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions:
Beet Greens Chutney Dip:
- In a high-speed blender, add all the ingredients except the yogurt. Blend until smooth. Add the yogurt and blitz again to a smooth consistency. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to use.
Beetroot Tikkis:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place the washed beets in aluminum foil, wrap them securely, and place on a baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven for 1 hour.
- Poke the beet with a knife to check for doneness. If it slides through easily, it is done. If not, roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, and then check again.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely.
- Once cooled, use your hands to remove the skin from the beet.
- In a large bowl, grate the beet. Squeeze out any excess beet juice into a small bowl by squeezing the mixture between your palms. Place the grated beets back into the large bowl.
- Grate the potatoes into the bowl. Add the cornmeal, rice flour, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, chile, all of the dry spices and cilantro into the bowl.
- Using your hands, gently mix until cohesive. Divide into 8 equal portions.
- Shape each portion into a tikki: Make a ball between the palms of your hands, then gently flatten it and seal the edges to form a disc about 2½ inches in diameter.
- Repeat for all the tikkis.
- In a medium pan, on medium to high heat, add about ¼ inch of oil for shallow frying. Heat the oil for about 1 minute.
- Add 4 tikkis at a time to the pan and fry for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned on the bottom. Flip the tikkis and fry on the other side for about 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Using a spatula, remove the tikkis and place on a paper towel-lined plate to absorb the excess oil.
- Repeat the frying for the remaining tikkis.
- Serve with the Beet Greens Chutney Dip and/or tomato ketchup
Note:
- The beet tikkis can be kept in the fridge, in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Warm them up in a toaster oven or on a pan on low to medium heat.
Notes
Frequently asked questions
- Should the beets and potatoes be completely smashed?
- Yes, that is why I grate the beets and potatoes so the final mixture is smooth and does not have any lumps.
- Can I boil the beets?
- The water content is more if you boil the beets, hence roasting is the best option.
- Can I roast the beets a day in advance?
- Yes you can roast the beets a day in advance.
- Can the beet tikkis be made a day ahead so that I can use it the next day?
- Yes, the beet tikkis can be made a day ahead. Cool them completely, and then store it in an airtight container in the fridge until the next day. Warm it up before using it for any kind of preparation.
