Bengali Vegetable Chop – a Kolkata Street Style Beetroot Cutlet recipe

Bengali Vegetable chop, a breadcrumb coated crispy veg cutlet (croquette) made by mashing boiled beetroot, carrot, and potatoes, contains no onion and garlic got famous from Old Kolkata street side fast food corners. Mashed boiled beetroot, carrot, and potatoes, mixed with ginger, green chilli paste, a special homemade bhaja masala, amchur powder, sugar and peanut for the stuffing & gives a cylindrical shape coated with breadcrumbs, and fried until crispy. Serve it with kasundi(Bengali mustard sauce) or tomato ketchup and a mixed salad of onion, cucumber, beetroot and carrot. This recipe follows a very simple method and describes each step with pictures. I hope it will help in making, if all the ingredients are available at your home.

Making this Bengali vegetable chop is very simple. First, chop the beetroot, carrot and potatoes into cubes and boil the vegetables in a pressure cooker with 1 cup of water. Pressure cook the veggies for 1 whistle, and cook until they are soft but not mushy. Mash half the amount of veggies, keep the other half intact once they have cooled down. In a pan, roast them with ginger and green chilli paste, special bhaja masala(with fennel seeds, bay leaves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies, black pepper and whole garam masala), amchur(dry mango powder), sugar, salt and turmeric powder until the moisture completely evaporates. Vegetable chop stuffing is ready. Mix the stuffing with peanuts. Cool down the stuffing. Give the stuffing into many small to medium cylindrical or flat shapes. Dip them in cornflour or arrowroot, or maida batter and coat in breadcrumbs. Deep fry in refined oil and serve with kasundi and salad. Yummy!

Before frying the cutlets if keeping them in the deep fridge for at least 10 -15 mins will get the best crunch. If you don’t want to deep fry it, you can choose to use air fryer, which will bring the same crunch with no oil. If you want to store them for later, then keep the raw cutlets in an airtight container and keep them in the freezer. While planning to fry, take them at least 30 minutes before frying, and keep them at normal room temperature.

Do not mess up this Bengali vegetable chop with other Indian style veg cutlets. Because Bengali vegetable chop is so flavourful and tastes different from other Indian veg cutlets. The difference is made by the flavour of our special Bengali bhaja masala, a combined flavour of cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, bay leaves & dry red chillies. Slightly sweet taste, not spicy at all. 

In Kolkata, this vegetable cutlet is mostly served in the evening with a cup of piping hot tea(milk & ginger tea), but not with coffee. Tea, paired best with vegetable chop or alu chop, was part of any traditional Bong adda(chitchat). Since living far away from Kolkata, to have a good vegetable chop, we either have to buy it from a Bengali restaurant at a high price or make it at home. I chose the last one, not for saving money but to get the authentic taste.

Try this Bengali vegetable chop at home, hope you like it. Please do share your valuable feedback about this recipe by leaving a comment in the comment section below this blog post.

You may like my other kolkata style evening snacks recipes, i.e,

Mochar Chop recipe

Bengali Fish Fry recipe

Bengali Chicken Cutlet

Prawn Cutlet (Mitra Cafe Style)

Bengali Vegetable Chop – a Kolkata Street Style Beetroot Cutlet recipe

Ingredients of Bengali vegetable chop

• 3 medium Beetroots
• 1 cup Carrots (Cut into medium cubes)
• 3 medium-sized Potatoes
• 1/2 inch Ginger(paste)
• 1 Green Chilli(paste)
• Special Bhaja masala(Described Below)
• 1/2 tsp Amchur(Dry Mango Powder)
• a Handful of Dry Roasted Peanuts
• 2 tbsp Sugar(as per taste)
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• Refine Oil/ Vegetable Oil(for Deep frying)
• Salt(good to taste)

Special Bengali Bhaja Masala for Vegetable chop

• 1 Bay Leaf(if big) or 2 Small Bay Leaves(tejpata)
• 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds((gota jeere)
• 1 tsp Coriander Seeds(Dhonia)
• 1 tsp Fennel Seeds(mouri)
• 4 Green Cardamom(choto elach)
• 3 Cloves(lobongo)
• 1/2 inch Cinnamon Stick(dalchini)
• 8 Black Peppercorns(golmorich)
• 1 or 2 Red Chillies(as per taste)(shukno lonka)

For Batter

• 6 tbsp Cornflour or Arrowroot, or Maida
• Little Water
• A Pinch of Salt

For coating

• 1 cup Bread Crumbs
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Served in: 55 mins

Course: Evening snacks

Cuisine: Bengali

Served for: 8-9 people

Author: Moumita Paul

How to make Bengali vegetable chop with step-by-step detailed pictures

Instructions

Cut the Beetroot, Carrot & Potatoes

• First, take beetroots, carrots, and potatoes, wash them thoroughly and peel them.
• Cut beetroots and carrots into medium-sized cubes(as shown in the pics).

• Then cut the potatoes into 8 pieces as shown in the pic.

Boil the veggies

• Take a pressure cooker, put all three vegetables in it and add 1 cup of water to it.

• Place the pressure cooker on the medium flame and wait for one whistle.
• Let the pressure cooker release its pressure automatically.
• Then remove the lid, strain the water from the vegetables.

• Keep the vegetables under the running fan for 15 mins or keep it in the refrigerator to dry up the water. (explained in tips)

Making Special Bhaja Masala

• Take a pan, add cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, green cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, and dry red chillies.
• Dry roast the spices till the aroma comes out.

• Completely cool down the spices.
• Put them in a grinder or use mortar-pestle and turn them into powder(as shown in the pic below).

Prepare the stuffing

• Once the veggies cool down, half mash the veggies.

• Keep some small chunks to get kolkata street vegetable chops like texture, as shown in the pic.

• Then, take 1/2 inch ginger and 1 green chilli, paste it nicely.

• Now take a pan, place it on medium heat, Once the pan is hot, add 1 tbsp oil to it.
• When oil is hot, add the ginger-green chilli paste to it.
• Add turmeric powder and stir it well.

• Then add bhaja masala and sauté for the next few secs(keep stirring to avoid burning).

• Add the half mashed veggies to the pan and mix them nicely with the other spices.

• Then add salt  and give them a good mix.

• Next, add 2 tbsp of sugar. You can increase or decrease the amount of sugar as per your need.

• Now add amchur or dry mango powder and mix it well.

• Stir the veggies until the moisture evaporates, and the veggies will easily leave the pan.
• As shown in the pic.
• Then turn off the heat. Vegetable chop’s stuffing is ready.

Add Peanuts

• Now add dry roasted peanuts with the mixture and mix it nicely.

• Remove the stuffing onto a plate.
• Keep the plate under a running fan until it completely cools down.
• Or you can put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes for quick cooling.

Give it shape

• Once the stuffing cools down, start making the patties from it.
• Means give them shape, here I give a cylindrical shape.
• You can give give them a flat shape too.

Coat with breadcrumbs

• Now take cornflour or arrowroot or maida in a bowl.
• Add a little water to make a slurry or batter.
• And add a pinch of salt to the batter.

• Spread the breadcrumbs in a plate, mix with 1/2 tsp little salt.

• Take patties, dip it into batter and nicely coat with breadcrumbs from all sides.

• Then place the cutlets in the freezer for 10-15 mins to get more crunch.

Fry the chop

• Place a pan on medium heat, once the pan is hot, add refined oil/ vegetable to the pan.
• When the oil is hot and realease smoke, add chop one by one in hot oil.

• Once the chop is golden from one side, gently turn them.
• When the cutlets get a golden brown colour from both sides.(As shown in the picture below)
• Then remove them from the pan and place them on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.

• Kolkata street style vegetable chop, aka Bengali beetroot cutlet, is ready.
• Serve it hot with kasundi(Bengali mustard sauce) or with tomato ketchup.
• Do not forget to serve the beetroot, carrot, onion, and cucumber salad if wants kolkata street style taste.

Important Tips

• How to double coat – I generally prefer to coat my vegetable chop twice to get the extra crunch. If you want to do the same, use double the amount of breadcrumbs. After a single coating, again dip it into the batter and coat it once again with the breadcrumbs. Then place it in the freezer for minimum 10-15 mins befor frying.
• How to store – You can preserve this veg cutlet(without frying) for atleast one week. Store them in the deep freeze in an airtight container. But must separate them using a perchment paper or butter paper.