Maggi Noodles Cutlet | Noodles Tikki

I have tasted a maggi bonda in a college canteen in Bangalore few years back and loved it instantly.These cutlets are almost inspired by the idea of that bonda and is prepared to suit our taste buds.This recipe is ideal when you have left over maggi or any other noodles and is a nice way to turn them to a delightful evening snack.But there is no way that we have left over noodles at our place and hence I have to prepare noodles specifically for making these cutlets.We just need half a packet of noodles for the cutlets but I always end up preparing a full packet and will let you know in the process what I do with the remaining half packet.

There are no hard rules to make these cutlets,you can add the vegetables,masalas according to your taste buds.I covered the cutlets with a coat of bread crumbs to give a nice and even look to the cutlets,if you leave that step you will get the tikkis with visible strands of noodles which is also equally tempting.Now let us just get in to the recipe with out wasting much time.


Maggi Noodles Cutlet Recipe:
(makes around 12-14)

Ingredients:
1 pack Maggi masala noodles
2 white/wheat Bread slices
1 big Potato
1/4 cup fresh/frozen green Peas
1 Carrot,finely chopped
1 Capsicum,finely chopped
1 Onion,finely chopped
2-3 Green chillies,finely chopped
1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste
1/4 cup chopped fresh Coriander leaves
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 tsp Chaat masala
juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 tsp Oil
Salt to taste

to coat:
2 tbsp Maida
3/4 cup approximately Bread crumbs

Oil,for shallow frying

Method:

• Bread the noodles into small pieces(do not drop the whole noodle block) before preparing them.Prepare maggi noodles with taste maker according to the instructions given on the pack.I told you that we just need only half packet to make tikkis and guess what I did with the remaining half?? so simple..I just ate the piping hot noodles while the remaining portion is being cooled.I love maggi very much that I can eat it any time of the day.If you are not in a mood to eat,prepare just half a packet of noodles for the tikkis.(you can either add or avoid adding the taste maker).
• Boil potatoes and green peas in microwave or cooker and slightly mash them and keep them aside.Mash the potatoes well and mash the peas lightly.
• Drop finely chopped carrots and capsicum in hot water and keep for 2 mins and strain them and keep aside.
• Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add finely chopped green chillies and fry well and add finely chopped onions and ginger-garlic paste and fry slightly until they are translucent.Cool the mixture.
• Tear the bread slices and run them in a mixer to a coarse powder.
• In a big bowl add mashed potatoes and green peas,blanched carrot and capsicum,fried onion and green chilli mixture,finely chopped coriander,lemon juice and ground bread crumbs and mix well.
• Add salt,garam masala and chaat masala to it and mix it well again.Take care that everything is mixed well as once we add noodles we cannot mix it thoroughly.
• Add cooked and cooled noodles to it and gently mix in the vegetable mixture.Do not knead the mixture,gently handle it otherwise noodles turn to a paste loosing its texture.
• Start making round tikkis of 2 " wide and 3/4 " thickness with the mixture.You will get around 12-14 tikkis with this mixture.
• Make a slurry out of maida,mix maida with 4-5 tbsp water and whisk well to form a thin paste.It should neither be very thick nor very thin.
• Arrange bread crumbs on a wide plate and spread them.
• With the help of spoon drop one tikki at a time in the slurry and then drop it into the bread crumb mixture.With the help of your hands coat the bread crumbs all over the tikki and arrange it on a plate.Repeat the process for all the tikkis and arrange them in a single layer on a plate.
• Cover the plate with a cling film or a plate and refrigerate for an hour.This helps the cutlet to be firm and hold its shape especially when deep frying.You can avoid this step if you are pressed for time.
• Apply few tbsp of oil on a thick hot tawa and arrange the cutlets in a single layer and shallow fry them on both sides until golden and crisp.You can even deep fry if you are making for a big crowd(but make sure you rest them in fridge for an hour at least before frying).

Sprinkle some chaat masala over the cutlets and serve them hot with green chutney,tamarind chutney and tomato sauce.

Notes:

1. You can even vegetables like green beans,capsicum and cauliflower.You need to blanch them and chop them finely and add to the mixture.
2. You can avoid the process of dipping the cutlets in slurry and coating them with bread crumbs.This gives a thick and crispy crust to the cutlet,it is optional.
3. If your cutlet is not holding its shape while making you can add another bread slice(run in the mixer to powder) to it and mix and start making cutlets.
4. Addition of taste maker while making noodles is completely optional.I like the flavor of the taste maker to be prominent in tikki and hence I suggest you to use it.
5. You can use any variety of noodles like atta noodles or some other brand or plain noodles with or with out taste maker as we do add few spices to the tikki.
6. This is almost a similar recipe for my vegetable cutlet other than the noodles part just with few more vegetables.So if you avoid noodles in it,this will become vegetable cutlet.