Siddhi makes a whole family of cutlets, kebabs and tikkis, and they are all built the same way: mash, bind, shape and coat. This guide puts her methods side by side, so you can see which binder and which coating each recipe uses.
Every recipe linked in this guide is cooked in Siddhi’s own kitchen before it goes live.
The short answer
Siddhi’s method, step by step:
- Mash the base well: boiled potato, paneer, hung curd, peas or corn.
- Add a binder: rice flour, semolina, besan, corn flour or bread crumbs.
- Grease your palms with oil and shape the mixture into balls, tikkis, fingers or rolls.
- Dip each piece in a batter or paste, then roll it in bread crumbs, semolina or crushed papad.
Binders in Siddhi’s recipes
| Recipe | Base | Binder |
|---|---|---|
| Veg Kabab | 3 boiled potatoes and sautéed vegetables | 2 tbsp rice flour and 2 tbsp sooji |
| Corn and Peas Seekh Kebab | Peas, sweet corn and 1 potato | 1 tbsp roasted besan, 2 tbsp corn flour and 1 cup bread crumbs |
| Dahi Ke Kebab | Hung curd and grated paneer | 3 to 4 tbsp rice flour, starting with 3 tbsp |
| Crispy Potato Balls | Grated boiled potatoes and butter | 4 to 5 tbsp rice flour and 2 tbsp corn flour |
| Sweet Corn Cutlet | 2 cups boiled sweet corn and vegetables | 1 cup besan |
| Rice Cutlet | Cooked rice and boiled potato | The mashed potato, plus bread crumbs only if the mixture is sticky |
| Crispy Potato Suji Fingers | Grated potatoes | ½ cup semolina cooked in ½ cup boiling water |
| Crunchy Chunky Tikki | Grated boiled potato | 2 to 3 tbsp bread crumbs |
Getting the mixture right
- Mash the base evenly first. For her Rice Cutlet, Siddhi mashes the rice and potato together by hand so they bind well.
- If the mixture is moist or sticky, add bread crumbs to dry it out, as Siddhi does in her Rice Cutlet.
- For seekh kebabs, Siddhi says the mixture should not be too dry or too moist, or it will not set well on the skewers.
- Add rice flour a little at a time. For her Dahi Ke Kebab, she starts with 3 tbsp and adds more as needed.
Shaping
- Greased palms: Siddhi greases her palms with oil before shaping her Dahi Ke Kebab, Sweet Corn Cutlet and Crispy Potato Suji Fingers.
- Flat tikkis: for Dahi Ke Kebab, she rolls a lemon-sized portion and flattens it between her palms. For Rice Cutlet, she prefers medium oval shapes.
- Balls: for Crispy Potato Balls and Falafel, she rolls a spoonful between her palms into a smooth ball.
- Fingers and rolls: she rolls Paneer Fingers into ovals or fingers, Crispy Potato Suji Fingers into thin cylinders, and Papad Potato Rolls into long rolls, like a cigar.
- Stuffed tikkis: for Crunchy Chunky Tikki, she flattens some potato dough in her palm, adds 1 tbsp of stuffing and seals it on all sides.
- Seekh kebabs: for Corn and Peas Seekh Kebab, she flattens a handful of the mixture in her palms, places a wooden skewer in the centre and rolls the edges onto it.
Coating
Most of Siddhi’s crisp coatings use a wet layer first, then a dry one. For her onion rings, rice cutlet and crunchy chunky tikki, she keeps the bowls ready side by side, with an empty plate for the coated pieces.
| Recipe | Wet layer | Dry coating |
|---|---|---|
| Veg Kabab | Maida and cornflour batter | Bread crumbs |
| Onion Rings | Maida and corn flour batter | Bread crumbs |
| Crunchy Chunky Tikki | Corn flour paste | Bread crumbs |
| Khasta Paneer | Maida and corn flour batter | Bread crumbs mixed with crumbled roasted papad |
| Papad Potato Rolls | Semi-thick corn flour and maida batter | Crushed papad |
| Rice Cutlet | None | Semolina, with the excess tapped off |
| Dahi Ke Kebab | None | Bread crumbs |
| Crispy Potato Balls | None | Bread crumbs |
Bread crumbs are optional in her Crispy Potato Suji Fingers: if you have them, she coats the fingers for a crispier texture.
Cooking them
Most of these are deep fried. Siddhi shallow fries her Veg Kabab and Paneer Fingers, and cooks her Corn and Peas Seekh Kebab on a well-greased griddle. Our guide on how to fry pakoda, vada and cutlets covers the frying.
FAQs
What binds a veg cutlet or kebab?
In Siddhi’s recipes the binder changes from dish to dish: rice flour and semolina in her veg kabab, roasted besan and corn flour in her seekh kebab, rice flour in her dahi ke kebab and crispy potato balls, besan in her sweet corn cutlet, and mashed potato itself in her rice cutlet.
My cutlet mixture is too sticky. What do I do?
In her rice cutlet, Siddhi adds bread crumbs to dry out a mixture that is moist or sticky.
How do I coat a cutlet in bread crumbs?
Siddhi dips each piece in a wet coating first and then rolls it in bread crumbs: a maida and cornflour batter for her veg kabab and onion rings, and a corn flour paste for her crunchy chunky tikki.
How do I get seekh kebab mixture to stay on the skewer?
Siddhi says the mixture should not be too dry or too moist, or it will not set well on the skewers. She flattens a handful in her palms, places the skewer in the centre and rolls the edges onto it.
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