Potato Patties Filled With Greens (Hara Bhara Kabab)
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keywords: greens, potato
Prep Time: 25 minutesminutes
Cook Time: 35 minutesminutes
Servings: 16patties
Calories: 58kcal
Author: Andrea at Buttered Veg
Hara bara kabab are flavorful pan-fried potato patties filled with spinach, peas, and green pepper. Enjoy as a zippy appetizer, snack, or vegetarian main course item.
Bring about 10 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan, and add a tablespoon of salt.
Blanch the spinach in the water for 2 to 3 minutes until the leaves are cooked. Use a slotted spoon to remove the greens and allow to cool. Working in small handfuls, squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach. Set aside until needed.
Peel potatoes. Use the same boiling water to cook the potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, and then mash with your hands. Set aside until needed.
This next step adds a lot of flavor. Get out all the ingredients “for the vegetable sauté” before starting, then heat oil on medium-low in a large skillet and add cumin. Fry cumin until lightly brown.
Add garlic, ginger, green chilis, and salt, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add turmeric, green pepper, and green peas, and cook for 4-5 minutes. Add cilantro and blanched spinach. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is mostly dry. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
Make the patty mixture and shape them
Grind cooked vegetables from the previous step in a blender or food processor until mostly blended. There should be some fine texture left. (You could also chop it finely by hand.) Transfer to a mixing bowl.
Add potatoes, cornstarch, and amchur, and mix well. Add rice flour. (I ran the flour through a sieve to disperse it evenly and eliminate lumps and it worked well.) The mixture should be just slightly wet to the touch, and it should hold together to form into patties. If it is too wet, add more rice flour. Taste, and adjust for salt.
Use your hands to shape the mixture into small patties of about an-inch-and-a-half in diameter. Push a whole almond or cashew into the center of each potato patty on one side only.
Pan-fry the patties
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. After the oil is nice and hot, place the patties into the skillet, nut-side down. Cook until golden brown on the first side (about 5 minutes), then flip and finish cooking the other side.
Make the spicy ketchup
Add ketchup, honey, and red chili powder to a small bowl and stir well.
To Serve
Serve hara bara kabab on a platter with a side of spicy ketchup. Enjoy as an appetizer or a tasty afternoon snack with masala chai.
Notes
Amchur is an Indian spice made from the pit of the green mango. It is a souring agent that tastes like dry lemon peel. It adds a lot of pizzaz to Indian food, and is well worth investing in. If you don’t have amchur, substitute with half the amount of garam masala, or experiment with more cumin, coriander powder, or even a bit of black pepper. Another option is to use “chat masala” or “sandwich masala.” This is a complex sweet-salty-savory spice that contains amchur and is commonly used in Indian snack items. I like to sprinkle some on the patties when I pan-fry them. It tastes super yummy. If you do not have rice flour, substitute with corn starch.