Aloo Poha Tater Tots (mini cutlets)

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Aloo Poha Tater Tots

Aloo Poha Tater Tots

Aloo Poha Tater Tots
Aloo Poha Tater Tots

Aloo Poha Tater Tots make the Ideal Ultimate Breakfast / Brunch. Scrumptious, Crisp and Delicious. It was weekend and it was brunch time. Sometimes you gotta go the real way and that is the “deep fried” way. Yes I do deep fry sometimes to keep my family calm and at par with “but everybody else eats deep fry and they are fine”. Yes, I hear that sometimes. It was raining and the day demanded it.

I think I have made enough excuses ;).

Aloo Poha Tater Tots
Aloo Poha Tater Tots

Aloo = Potato ; Poha = Flattened Rice ; Tater Tots = Mini Cultlets

Aloo Poha Tater Tots is the simplest recipe ever. Mix boiled potatoes and poha (flattened rice) along with spices and some semolina. Shape as desired. Deep fry. That’s it! Isn’t that super easy. Poha and Aloo, both are very common ingredients in Indian household. When combined, they make a very filling snack.

Therefore, to get some comfort and warmth on a cold rainy day, Aloo Poha Tater Tots were the perfect answer to soothe the gloomy dark and wet day. There is something magical about the fried food (occasionally) which connects heart to the contentment. So, give in sometimes and enjoy the food as it comes to you.

When I fried these and put it in front of my family to chomp on, they attacked and couldn’t stop stuffing themselves. These mini cutlets were gone very soon and the girls still wanted more. I assured them to make these again soon and giggled with them over a cup of “garam’ masala chai. Bonding over good food, giggles, some stories and some “picking” on each other, is the best way to bond with the family. Do you agree?

Aloo Poha Tater Tots
Aloo Poha Tater Tots

This is how I made it !

Aloo Poha Tater Tots

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Kitchen Equipment Required

Chopping board, knife, mixing bowl, grater or masher, a wok or kadhai to deep fry, slotted spoon (jharni) to flip and fry, a plate with paper napkins.

Ingredients

Potatoes – 2 medium, boiled and grated or mashed fine

Poha – 1 cup, soaked for 10 minutes and squeezed out dry

Sooji / semolina – 2 tbsp, dry roased

Ginger – 1/2 tsp grated fine

Green chili – 1 small chopped fine

Onion – 2 tbsp, chopped fine (heap full)

Salt – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Red chili powder – 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp

Lemon juice – 1 tsp or 1/2 tsp dry mango powder

Oil – to deep fry

Method

  1. Take the mixing bowl. Add all the above mentioned ingredients to it besides the oil. Mix well and bring it together like a dough.
  2. Pinch desired amount of portions from it and shape as desired. We (I and the kids) shaped them like little cylinders. Put them aside. Only advise is when you shape these, close the shape tightly so that there are no cracks or lines on the outer surface. If it is not tightly shaped, it can open up while frying and will be a mess.
  3. Meanwhile heat the oil high and then bring down to medium.
  4. Slowly, slide down the tater tots or mini cutlets inside the hot oil and deep fry from both the sides, flipping only once, till golden brown.

Notes 

  1. The temperature of the oil used for deep frying is very important. I normally heat it high and reduce it to medium high for frying my cutlets. This method has never disappointed me.
  2. The tight shaping is very important as mentioned in step 2. You may dip your fingers in little water and then shape for tightness. Alternatively, you may dip your fingers in little oil to do the same.
  3. Do not fry more than 3 to 4 mini shapes or 2 medium shapes, at a time. If you add a lot of them together, it will reduce the heat of the oil and they will absorb more oil and will not crisp. The chances are that they will scatter and you will end up with a fried mess of nothing.
  4. Do not flip the tots again and again. They are delicate and need not be disturbed. You can again break up the shape with repeating action.
  5. You may shallow fly these. You may Pan grill these. You may bake these in the oven at 375*F till they brown up.

Serving Suggestion – Sprinkle with some Chaat Masala and serve it with Green spicy Cilantro/Coriander chutney and Ketchup.

I had an awesome time frying these and feeding my family in my Indian American Kitchen. I am sure that you will have fun making these for family and friends. Sometimes, it is good to eat the sinful way ;).

Eat Happy! Stay Happy!

Sonal

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49 Comments

  4. First, congratulations for self- hosting. 🙂
    Now these beauties are irresistible, to say the least. You are a magician and you know it <3

    Reply

  5. Congrats on the big move ! I see big things for u in the future Sonal. You have given me the confident i was looking for. I am now gearing up to self host myself (hopefully soon :P) I would be needing your help when i make the move to self-host .. i am counting on you 🙂

    And those tater tots are “Y.U.M.M.Y” !! I do cheat and fry stuff sometime too.. sometimes thats all that u need

    Reply

    1. Awesome news Prachi ☺️
      Anytime…waise I doubt that you will need my help. You are so efficient in web technology. But I would be glad to help anytime! ❤️

      Reply

  10. Congratulations Sonal you did it! Your site looks seamless. If you paid WordPress for a guided transfer, and also requested the Domain mapping ($13), your followers should have come over with you. These tater tots look delicious! I grew up with fried food, but never do it at home. I need to change my ways and go for it once in a while!

    Reply

    1. Julie,
      This was an interesting journey.
      My server is Site Ground.
      My hosting company is WordPress.org.
      When I signed up for site ground WordPress package, I didn’t realize that they are just the server hosts and I have to pay extra to WordPress for the transfer. And my budget for all of it was pretty low. With WordPress and site ground tech help, tutorials and guidance, the blog was transferred, part done by site ground, some by WordPress and rest by me. Learnt a lot during the process. I am zero at web knowledge. So it was pretty interesting. Finally paid $13.00 to WordPress to redirect my traffic to new URL. So saved my money with WordPress by not doing the guided tour but again came out enriched with knowledge. I should have paid WordPress as my husband kept telling me but I was adamant.
      Thanks so much for liking it and giving me a feedback Julie.

      These tater tots were loved by girls and hubs…so much so that I gave up saying no more

      Reply

        1. Me too! Their tech support and chat support is awesome ! Though it is less popular than Blue host but it’s loading time is awesome.

          Reply

  16. Yay! Awesome that you went to a self-hosted site. Lovely post for the new site.

    Haven’t you used Jetpack for migrating your followers? I thought that you had close to 2k email subscribers.

    Reply

  17. Oh yummm Sonal, they look real good, it would serve as wonderful appetizers at a party served with chutney or cocktail sauce. I like the addition of sooji. Glad you are overcoming some of the teething problems that go with self-hosting. 🙂

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Loretta :). These tots were loved by my family.
      I am glad I made this transition and learnt a lot in the midst of it.

      Reply

    1. I am so glad that you liked the new look Seana. It has taken me longer than I expected but learnt a lot while in the process.
      THese tots were fun and kids and hubs couldnt stop eating. 🙂

      Reply

    4. and I deleted your second comment by mistake I think :(.
      I am soon going to write a post about migrating the blog from wordpress to self hosting server. There is much more to it other than just the new server. IT might make somebody’s journey easier. NOnetheless I learnt few things and feel enriched :).

      Reply

        1. Soon Suzanne but I have to say that WordPress is the best host and siteground had been fabulous so far with some teething troubles.

          Reply