Potato Cheese Patties

Summer seems to be the time for get-togethers, an excuse for spending long afternoons clustered around a table that is groaning with food and drink and noshing with abandon.

I made these little cheese-filled morsels earlier this summer and we made a big batch again yesterday to take to a party. The patties disappeared in minutes (late arrivals to the party were met with an empty platter) and since this is such a crowd-pleaser, I wanted to jot down the recipe here for my own future reference.

The recipe calls for a liberal use of many spices, because I wanted the patties to be tasty enough on their own, without a chutney or dipping sauce, and I wanted them to taste good even at room temperature.

The hardest part was answering the question, "what are these?"- V and I mumbled something like "they are little...things...you know, with potatoes and herbs and cheese". Call them patties or croquettes or tikkis or "things", people are happy to eat them and that's all that matters sometimes. The recipe below made 24 patties, each about the size of my palm.

Potato Cheese Patties

1. Boil about 10 medium potaoes. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash the potatoes.

2. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy skillet and saute 1 large onion, minced fine, until golden.

3. Add 3 shredded medium carrots and 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste and saute well.

4. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and Kitchen King masala and salt (all to taste but be sure to add enough to season the bland potatoes that will be added later). Saute for a minute more and turn off the heat.

5. When this mixture cools, stir in the mashed potato, large handfuls of minced cilantro and fresh mint, a teaspoon or less of sugar and chaat masala to taste. Knead the mixture gently to mix well and taste it. Adjust seasonings if necessary.

6. Shred 1 cup Pepper Jack cheese and 1 cup cheddar cheese and mix them together to make the filling.

7. Divide the potato mixture into 24 portions. Pat each portion into a disc, fill with some cheese and pinch the edges together to make a stuffed patty. Shallow fry the patties using a few drops of oil. Don't worry if some cheese leaks out of an occasional patty, it will crisp up in the hot pan and seal the leak. The cook gets to eat the leaky patties ;)

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The Print Lover gave me a sweet award (thank you!) and tagged me for a meme. The meme had a lot of questions about fashion and style and these things are not my forte (to put it very very mildly) so I'm just answering a few of the questions here...

1. What is your current obsession?
Knitting socks. I just made my first pair (Fall colors!) and I am smitten. I was warned that sock knitting is addictive and that seems about right.

Pattern: Wise Hilda's Basic Ribbed Sock.

3. What’s for dinner?
Spaghetti squash with sauteed onions, red peppers and kidney beans, topped with a dollop of sour cream and habanero-lime salsa. I was inspired by this recipe.

6. What do you think about the person who tagged you?
I'm glad she delurked!

7. If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you like it to be?
In a liberal, eco-friendly, walking-friendly, dog-friendly community- anywhere in the world.

16. What’s your favorite magazine?
The New Yorker

17. If you had $100 now, what would you spend it on?
KnitPicks yarn

20. Describe your personal style.
Shabby Chic. OK- Much Shabby with just a hint of chic.

22. What are your favorite movies?
Documentaries. Two memorable ones are Mad Hot Ballroom and Born Into Brothels. I'd love to hear your recommendations for good documentaries.

28. What is the meaning of your name?
Nupur means "ankle jewelry" in several Indian languages. In particular, it often means ghungroo or the bells worn by Indian classical dancers on their ankles. Click here to see a picture of these beautiful metal bells and here is a picture of a dancer wearing them. In keeping with my name, I did learn Indian classical dance (kathak) for 10+ years as a child. Dance is my favorite art form. About my name, people seem to either love it or think it is very outlandish. I love it :)

29. Which other blogs you love visiting?
I read hundreds of food blog and like visiting them all, but I'll mention three non-food blogs that I enjoy reading- The Happiness Project, Zen Habits and Kamini's wonderful blog, Tales of South India.

Can you believe September is only hours away? I'll see you in a week or so!