Do you still think that there are either meat or fish cakes? In the national Ukrainian cuisine there are Greek and cape-bearers, nomads (from lentils), cartoplans, zrazy and many other products that can be eaten both by those who fast, and those who simply follow their figure and health. Falafel is popular in the Arab world, in Italy - Farinata, Arancini and Pennel, in India - Amboda, in Brazil - Acaraj, in Japan - Korokke.
As you may have guessed, in this article recipes for meatless cutlets will be presented. Nature presents people with numerous vegetables and cereals. Appetizing, ruddy, fried, with a crispy cutlet, can be prepared from them. Do you want to switch to vegetarianism, but are not yet able to give up your favorite dish? These recipes are for you. Would you like to keep the post? Separately, we give a selection of absolutely vegetarian cutlets (without eggs and dairy products).
The subtleties of cooking
There are no special secrets here. All recipes for meatless cutlets require first to make minced meat. It can be purely vegetable, without the addition of cereals. Or mushroom - some types of forest fruits taste like boiled chicken breast. But so that the vegetables do not break up and cutlets are obtained, it is necessary to add a “cementing” ingredient to the minced meat. It can be eggs, and in a completely vegetarian version, flour, semolina, boiled potatoes, beans or peas.
Whenever we see that the products are not molded, you can add a little bread crumb and water to the minced meat. Typically, vegetarian cutlets are made from a combination of cereals and vegetables. But there are also products from mashed potatoes (zrazy, for example). But in this case, you need to add flour to the minced meat. And so that the zrazy tastes better, the mashed potatoes are mixed with chopped herbs and onion fried in oil. Vegetables for such cutlets are most often rubbed in boiled or raw form. It is best to fry products in a large amount of well-heated vegetable oil.
Falafel
Every resident of the Arab world will tell you that chickpea croquettes are the most delicious meatless cutlets. In every country in the East, falafel is prepared differently. In Israel, bulgur is mixed with chickpeas, and cutlets with hummus are eaten. In Lebanon, this dish is made from a mixture of beans, turnip and mint, and served with yogurt sauce. In Egypt, falafel is made from special beans "full meads." Cutlets are put in a pita cake with chopped fresh tomatoes and sprinkled with bean sauce.
The shape of the falafel can also be different - from the classic cutlet to balls the size of a walnut. Let's look at a classic Jewish recipe.
Soak 250 grams of dried chickpeas (it is also called lamb or Turkish peas) soaked overnight. In the morning, we wash it in several waters and dry it. Chickpea will become softer, and we will grind it in mashed potatoes in a blender or food processor along with peeled onions and five cloves of garlic.
Add to this mass:
- a finely cut bunch of cilantro or parsley;
- egg;
- 3 tablespoons of cumin;
- 1 tbsp. l coriander;
- a pinch of black, cayenne and allspice, curry, cardamom;
- salt to taste.
Knead the minced meat thoroughly. Add 4 tablespoons of flour. Knead again. Flour can be more or less - you need to follow the consistency of minced meat. Fry falafel should certainly be in olive deep fat. We form balls or cutlets with our palms and lower them into hot oil.
Grechaniki
By the way, this dish is very economical, because it allows you to give a "second life" to the porridge remaining after the meal. So, we need a glass of finished buckwheat. Rub the cold porridge with a crush so that the kernel turns into mashed potatoes. On a grater with the smallest holes, chop the onion and 3 potatoes. It is important to squeeze out the released liquid well, otherwise the minced meat will come out watery, and tasty meatballs without meat will not work. We connect both masses. Season with salt and spices. We form products. Fry them in hot vegetable oil on both sides.
Zrazy with mushrooms
Boiled potatoes in itself are quite a sticky product. But we will add wheat flour in mashed potatoes for reinsurance. If you replace this ingredient with corn grits, then you will get potatoes, not zrazy. Such meatless meatballs suggest recipes to be made with various additives: chopped dill, fried onions. There are even zrazy with minced meat. In this case, in the middle of the potato patty you will find chopped meat. But here we give a recipe for mushrooms.
If you have mashed potatoes - fine. If not, peel 700 grams of potato, boil it in salted water with a bay leaf, strain. Mash tubers with mashed potatoes.
Finely chop the onion and fry until a pleasant golden hue in the butter - creamy or lean. Cut a small bunch of dill. Two hundred grams of champignon need to be cleaned. Mushrooms should be finely chopped and fried in vegetable oil.
Combine onions, mashed potatoes, herbs and champignons. Add 2-3 tablespoons of wheat flour.
Stir the minced meat and fry the cutlets out of it. Such products are served as a standalone dish with sour cream or mushroom sauce.
Carrot and apple croquettes
These tender meatless cutlets are suitable for any side dish. Those who are on a diet will especially like them, because there are so few calories in carrots and apples. Very tasty such cutlets are obtained from young root crops.
- We clean and chop five carrots and one large apple on a coarse grater.
- We put it in a saucepan with a thick bottom, pour a third glass of water, add a spoonful of vegetable oil and simmer for ten minutes on the smallest fire.
- If the liquid has not completely evaporated, it does not matter. We will add half a glass of semolina to the stewed carrots.
- Leave for another quarter hour. During this time, semolina will swell, and minced meat will cease to be liquid.
- Salt it, add another teaspoon of sugar.
- Pour a little flour into a separate bowl.
- Put the pan on the fire, pour vegetable oil.
- Breaded cutlets in flour. Fry them on all sides until golden brown.
Meatless cutlets like meat
We have already mentioned that some mushrooms (for example, umbrellas) taste like boiled chicken breast. But eggplant, if cooked correctly, cannot be distinguished from pork. This berry from India can be prepared solo by adding a small portion of breadcrumbs and flour for the "cementation" of minced meat. But we decided to diversify the recipe somewhat. Paired with eggplant (two medium-sized pieces) we have red sweet bell pepper.
- We wash the vegetables and put them whole in the oven to bake. We set the temperature to 220 degrees, prepare pepper with eggplant for about half an hour.
- We shift into a bowl, be sure to cover with cling film and cool in this form.
- Then we remove the stalk with seeds from the pepper.
- Peel the baked vegetables.
- Puree eggplant in a blender or pass through a meat grinder.
- Add a glass of flour and 5 tablespoons of breadcrumbs. Salt, add to the taste of spices.
- Cut the pepper into small cubes.
- Minced meat is divided into 8-10 parts.
- We make flat cakes from each. Put pepper in the middle.
- Close the filling, forming cutlets. In addition, bread them in flour.
- Fry in vegetable oil until a delicious crust.
Nomads
Lentils are rich in iron, protein, B vitamins and amino acids. There are many recipes for delicious meatless cutlets with this representative bean. We propose to make products from red lentils.
- Boil one glass of grains in four glasses of water. Salt at the very end of cooking.
- Shred the onion finely, three carrots and fry both ingredients until golden brown in olive oil.
- Rub the cooled lentils in mashed potatoes.
- Add to it our vegetable roast, 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs, 1 tbsp. l tomato paste, finely chopped greens (parsley or dill), dry thyme, salt.
- Stir the minced meat thoroughly.
- Sculpt small round cutlets. Fry them lightly until golden brown.
The recipe for meatless cabbage cutlets
No wonder the white-headed vegetable is considered the king of the garden. It goes well with various ingredients. There are a lot of cabbage cutlet recipes. Let's start with the simplest one.
- We put a full kettle to boil.
- My kilogram cabbage and cut into quarters.
- Put in a pan. Pour boiling water. We put the pan on the fire.
- When the liquid boils again, add salt to taste. Cook another 10 minutes.
- Throw cabbage into a colander. Cool, completely strain.
- Through a meat grinder, we pass the cabbage, onion and 2-3 garlic cloves.
- A small bunch of dill is chopped finely and added to the total mass.
- Add 100 grams of semolina to the minced meat. Mix and wait until this ingredient “works”. Stuffing will become more viscous.
- Pour another hundred grams of flour. Stir again.
- We blind cabbage cutlets. Without meat, these products will still come out delicious.
- Bread them in breadcrumbs.
- We fry products in vegetable oil.
Cauliflower Cutlets
This recipe can be noted by those who adhere to a non-strict fasting and consume animal products - eggs, butter. With cauliflower, it is impossible otherwise - for minced meat, a solid cementing base is needed from it. She will be two eggs and half a glass of flour.
- We disassemble a kilogram of cabbage into large inflorescences, wash it and boil it for 6 minutes in salted boiling water until half ready.
- Squeeze the liquid in a colander.
- Grind cauliflower. This can be done in a blender or just skip the vegetable through a meat grinder.
- A small bunch of dill and parsley finely chopped. Add in mashed cauliflower along with eggs and flour.
- Salt and season with spices to taste.
- It is unlikely that it will be possible to form products from liquid minced meat. But if you well heat the vegetable oil in a pan and spread the mass with a tablespoon, then it will “grab” and you will get delicious cutlets from cabbage without meat.
Pumpkin
A kilogram of the pulp of this gourd is rubbed coarsely. We chop finely two onions and potatoes. We put all the ingredients in a saucepan, where we melt a small amount of oil. When the vegetables have a golden hue, add a small amount of water, lower the lid and leave to simmer for 20 minutes over low heat.
Pour half a glass of semolina, stir. Leave on fire for another ten minutes.
Cool the minced meat. Add dry herbs, spices and salt to taste.
Pour breadcrumbs into a bowl. We form cutlets.
In a pan, heat the vegetable oil with a whole clove of garlic. When the latter gives its smell, we take it out.
Bread products in breadcrumbs, fry in garlic oil until golden.
Of zucchini
And finally, our last recipe for meatless cutlets is from zucchini. Old fruits need to be peeled and seeds removed. Young zucchini (1 kilogram) can be used as a whole. Pass them through a meat grinder or rub. If possible, express fluid. In mashed potatoes, add two garlic cloves, salt and spices, passed through the press. Flour is sprinkled as much as it takes to give the forcemeat an adhesive structure. Fry in warmed vegetable oil.