Crisp, delicious chicken potato chops

Tasty Goan potato chop recipe

Let me show you an old, traditional, and much requested recipe – Goan potato chops. This savoury, lip-smacking snack is invariably prepared for special occasions and parties. However, the name, potato chops is a sort of misnomer, for these are actually potato patties stuffed with minced meat.

This is a recipe for chicken potato chops. But this hot favourite can also be made with beef, or mutton or even prawns. Just a few important points to remember. For this Goan potato chop recipe, you need to use old potatoes. When new potatoes are mashed, they tend to be too sticky and are therefore not suitable for potato chops.

Potato chops can be either deep-fried or shallow-fried in a pan. However, if you want to deep-fry them, the potato coating has to be much thicker than the one in this recipe for shallow-fried potato chops. Accordingly, you’ll need around 700 – 800 g of potatoes for the same amount of filling used in this recipe.

Vegetarians will find instructions for a vegetarian version of potato chops in the video. But I do have recipes for vegetarian patties for which the links are here: Paneer Patties and Corn Patties. Both are lip-smacking tasty. So do check them out.

Ingredients

Mince filling

250g chicken mince

3 green chillies, finely chopped

3 medium-size onions, chopped ( ¾ cup)

1 tsp crushed ginger

1 tsp crushed garlic

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp ground pepper

½ tsp jeera (cumin) powder

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 ½ tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp tomato sauce

1 tsp salt

¼ cup green peas

2 tbsp chopped mint (optional)

2 tbsp chopped coriander

2 tbsp oil

Outer covering

650g potatoes

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground white pepper (or black)

1 bread slice or 2 tbsp bread crumbs

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

Some maida (all-purpose flour)

Some rava (semolina)

Procedure

1. Wash and drain the chicken mince.
2. Boil the potatoes. Peel and mash them well while they’re still warm. The mashed potatoes should be free of any lumps. Soak the bread slice in water for a minute and then squeeze out all the excess water. Mix this into the well mashed potatoes along with the salt and pepper. (If using bread crumbs, mix these directly with the mashed potato. Cover and keep the mashed potato mix in the fridge for ½ -1 hour.
3. Heat the oil. With the heat on medium, fry the chopped green chillies. Add the onions and fry them for a couple of minutes or till they just begin to soften. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté this too.
4. Add the mince. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes on high heat.
5. Then lower the heat to medium-low. Add the garam masala, ground pepper, jeera powder, and turmeric. Stir well. Cover and cook the mince for around 10-12 minutes.
6. Next, add the tomato sauce, vinegar, chilli powder, and salt. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Cook without the lid till all the liquid evaporates.
7. Taste the mince. It should be medium spicy and have a tang to it. Add some more chilli powder, salt or vinegar if necessary.
8. Finally, add the peas, coriander, and mint. Stir the mince mix well for a minute and turn off the heat.
9. Cool the mince completely or even overnight in the fridge.
10. Divide the cold mashed potato mix into tennis-ball size portions.
11. Add 1 tbsp water to the egg and beat it lightly.
12. Then flatten each portion of the potato covering on your palm. Add around 1 ½ tbsp of mince in the centre and then draw the mashed potato layer together to cover the mince completely.
13. Flatten slightly and coat each potato chop in maida, dip it in the beaten egg and then roll it in semolina. Reshape each one into a neat, thick disc.
14. Heat some oil. Shallow fry the potato chops on medium-low heat till lightly browned on each side.

Enjoy!