Spicy Indian Styled Potato Patty stuffed with Curried TVP – THIS SITE HAS MOVED

THIS SITE HAS MOVED TO WWW.ISLANDLOVEGOURMET.COM

 

 

I wanted to start the New Year on a high note and some changes. Today I present to you a dish that is suitable for an intimate dinner that pulls from Indian and West Indian (Caribbean) influences. I picked up some potatoes on sale this weekend and some other indian styled ingredients such as black mustard seeds along with other things. The potato patty was born but since protein is very important it had to be either served with a sauce which would have made it  too soggy so, I decided on stuffing it with high protein stuffing. The reason I chose Texture Vegetable Protein was because it goes well with potatoes and if I added a bean filling it would have made the bite too carby. Biting into these patties you first would encounter the crispy  panko breadcrumbs and then you would meet the light flavourful batter then a bold spicy indian styled potato mixture then finally a sweet and spicy Caribbean styled ” beefy” filling. Now when all of these flavours dance on your taste buds another acid spicy one takes the stage and it comes from the drops of oily sauce . This sauce is called  Kuchela and it is a condiment used  in Trinidadian cuisine. It is made with mangoes, chillies, brown sugar, vinegar, hot pepper and mustard oil. I only found out about it when I went to a roti house in Barbados last week. I saw them rubbing this dark mixture onto the roti skins and I asked for it too not knowing what it was. I tracked down a jar in the supermarket and promised myself to make some in the summer when I have mangoes on the tree. The green leafy vegetable that you can see on the top of my patty is called callaloo. You can click here to find out more about it. I recently found a Guyanese supermarket near where I live that would bring in this leafy vegetable but if you are overseas you can tried the canned variety which is not too bad. To those that wished me Merry Christmas and New Year Wishes here is it right back at you and those who did not Happy New year and  I wish you the best too. I am sorry I did not get to visit and comment on some of the blogs recently but I will make an hour each week to do these visits together. I just have been really stressed and busy these past weeks. I will try to update the Barbados Vegan Guide soon as some new restaurants I visited need to be added and some old ones need to be re reviewed as the food was not very good this time around. I just got my new camera so bear with me until I figure out how to take decent pics.

Now for the recipe

Spicy Indian Styled Potato Patty stuffed with Curried TVP

Potato Patty

2 medium large peeled potatoes raw and cubed into 2 inch pieces about 575 g

1/8 tsp turmeric

1 tsp split pea flour

1 large clove of garlic finely minced

1 medium onion finely minced

1 1/2 tsp minced mild chillies ( The nice flavoured pimento that is found in the Caribbean would do or a sweet pepper)

1 tbs black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin

2 tbs olive oil for sauteing the onions, garlic, chillies and mustard seeds

about a 1 tsp of sea salt to taste ( you may wish to add more or less)

water to boil potatoes

Beefy Filling

1/3 cup tvp mince dried

water to hydrate tvp

2 tbs canola oil

1 medium onion chopped finely

1/8 tsp Scotch Bonnet pepper minced finely ( protect fingers and eyes)

1 clove minced garlic

1 tbs worcestershire sauce ( I find many vegan varietes in Barbados)

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/8 tsp  ground nutmeg

1 tbs medium heat curry powder

1 tbs liquid amino acids or soy sauce

1 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs water

Batter

1 tbs split pea flour

2 tbs chick pea flour

3 tbs all-purpose flour

large pinch of cumin

salt to taste

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1/4 cup – 1/3 cup of water

Additional Ingredients

Canola oil for shallow frying

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Garnishes

Cooked callaloo

1 tbs Kuchela

broad leaf thyme leaves

and a slice of scotch bonnet pepper

Method

Mix all in the ingredients for the batter and set aside in the refrigerator

Cook potatoes until done. Drain. Mash quickly and add the split pea flour and turmeric. Stir briefly with a wooden spoon.Heat olive oil on a medium heat and add onions,chillies, mustard seeds and garlic. Reduce heat and cook vegetables on a low heat until translucent. When onions begin to turn translucent add the cumin. Add the contents of your frying pan to potato mixture. Incorporated the spiced vegetables into the potato mixture and add the salt to taste. Set aside in  fridge.

Hydrate the tvp mince with about 1/2 cup of boiling water . Leave for 5 minutes to hydrate. In the meantime. Heat canola oil and add onions, hot peppers and garlic to the pan and saute on a low heat. Empty the hydrated tvp into a strainer and press excess water out. Add tvp to the  ingredients in the pan that are sauteing. Add worcestershire sauce, black pepper, nutmeg, curry powder, amino acids or soy sauce and incorporate all ingredients. Add the tomato paste and the water and cook on low heat for an additional 3 minutes.

Divide your flavoured potato mixture into 4 equal parts and flatten in your hands into a 4×4 inch patty. Take a heaping tablespoon full of beef mixture and place it int the centre of the potato  patty.Close the patty  using your hands to seal off the tvp mixture.Form into a  3.5x 3.5 inch patty. From here you can wrap these patties up individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day.

Remove batter from the fridge and stir as the water would have settled out. Heat up canola oil in frying pan to medium heat. With clean hands dip the patty into the batter and then coat evenly with panko.

Using a frying spatula or as we in Barbados call a fish turner lower your coated potato patty into the oil and cook for 3 mins on one side. Turn and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Then, lower heat and cook for an additional 4 minutes. This should be enough to get your beef mixture hot inside again. If you want you can pop in a warm oven if you are not ready to serve. When you remove them from the oil drain well.

Island Tip: These can be baked as well but the baking pan should be brushed with  oil and rebrushed when turning the patty. I am not sure about the baking time but I suggest 200 c for about 25 minutes.

There would be about 2 recipes per month from now on as this content may mirror my bi weekly column.

So that is it a restaurant quality meal for 4. If you are a small eaters they can be used as a meal but can also double as an appetizer as well since it may not be as filling as you wish.