I have spoken about the Bawa love for ‘Ramakras’. The literal translation ofcourse is toys but what we mean by this is the addition of some meat or a fried snack to go with a main meal.

Others may eat salads. We prefer some more protein with our protein, thank you very much.

What prompted this invention is the current low-carb diet I am on (I survived on Keto for a grand total of 5 days before I decided it wasn’t for me). I wanted to take healthy-ish ingredients and turn them into a snack. Ideally, I also wanted to eat something that was seasonal. Harbhara Chana, the fresh green chickpeas that are in season in Mumbai ‘winters’ ticked both these boxes and hence I decided to experiment with them. Normally, I wouldn’t choose to make something vegetarian when experimenting (blame the Parsi genes). However, these chana were left over after my Umbariyu that I made and I was all ‘muttoned-out’.

I paired the chana (chickpeas) with paneer as that is a great source of protein and ergo ticked my protein with protein obsession too. Since, I wanted a different flavour to our regular Parsi kebabs I decided to use the Parsi green chutney that we usually use in Patra ni Machchi. This chutney is super versatile and I could rattle off about ten different things I could do with it, like these Chutney Falafels I made when I didn’t know ANYthing about food photography!

Now, you will tell me how can something that’s deep fried be healthy? The answer to that is that it is healthy-ish and that’s good enough for me. Overall, this is a super simple dish to make which uses just three main ingredients and the Chutney Chana Croquettes look great if you have some guests coming over!

Chutney Chana Croquettes

Created by Perzen PATEL on March 3, 2019

A quick and healthy Parsi starter made with chickpeas and paneer.

Prep Time: 15m
Cook Time: 15m
Total Time: 30m

Yield: 12 - 15 pieces
Category: AtoZChallenge, Starters

Ingredients

200 grams green harbhara chana, peeled and boiled
250 grams paneer, crumbled
8 tablespoons Parsi green chutney
2 teaspoons salt
100 grams roasted vermicelli, crushed
3 tablespoons cornflour
oil for deep frying

Instructions

Peel the green harbhara chana (fresh green chickpeas) and boil them until they are soft. If you like, you can leave them so they still have a bit of bite to them for added texture in your croquettes. If you can't find the fresh chickpeas, this will work with regular canned chickpeas too. Ofcourse, those don't need to be boiled.
Crumble in the paneer and add in the Parsi green chutney. Add in salt and pepper for added flavour. Mix well and form cylindrical croquettes
Take 2 - 3 tbsp of cornflour and mix with water to form a thin slurry. Meanwhile, get the oil hot for frying and crush the roasted vermicelli in a separate plate.
One by one, dip each croquette in the slurry and then roll it in the vermicelli. Deep fry until golden brown. Remember, all the ingredients in the croquette are already cooked and hence you just need to fry until the colour comes.
Serve hot with some more Parsi chutney on the side

This post is part of my ongoing series on the blog, the A to Z of Parsi Food. In 2019, I am doing this by picking ingredients from the letters A to Z and trying to make unique Parsi tasting dishes with them. For more interesting recipes follow the hashtag #AtoZChallenge mentioned below.