Poha Croquettes

My 96th recipe "Poha Croquettes", the best evening snack. Perfectly loved by both the kids and adults of your family.

This is one recipe which I was eagerly waiting to try ever since I started this blog 3 months back. I usually buy poha for Krishna Jeyanthi. After using it on that day, I generally make an occasional Kanda Poha out of it. But other than that I did not have any other use for the poha and it would always be sitting in my stock pile. So this time around, I wanted to put it to good use by preparing something innovative and different from my usual Indian cuisine.

Deriving inspiration from the various recipes I have seen on the Food shows and from the Arancini Balls I have tasted in an Italian restaurant here, I wanted to try to make a croquette out of the poha. For folks who are not aware, Poha is nothing but flattened rice which is widely used in Indian cooking.

The croquette turned out just beautiful. A gorgeous ball which is super crispy on the outside. And once you bite into the crispy shell, you get to enjoy the mildly flavored soft and cheesy inside. And finally comes the surprise element. A super stretchy and gooey mozzarella cheese center. It is everything I want from a dish, a wonderful symphony inside my mouth 🙂

Poha Croquettes

Poha Croquettes

Revathi Palani

Poha Croquettes are Indian Style deep fried balls made with flattened rice, cheese and potato. Perfect to serve as an appetizer or a evening snack.

4.50 from 2 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Snack

Cuisine Indian

Servings 10

Ingredients

  

• Poha - 1 Cup
• Potato - 1 Large (preferably Russet potato)
• Grated Parmesan cheese - ½ cup
• Italian seasoning - 1 Tbsp (Mix of dry herbs like oregano, marjoram, etc.)
• Salt / Garlic salt - 1 tsp (Adjust as needed)
• Fresh ground black pepper - 2 tsp
• Nutmeg powder - ¼ tsp (Optional)
• Mozzarella cheese - 1 ½ stick
• All purpose flour - ¼ cup
• Panko / Regular bread crumbs - For coating
• Oil - For frying

Instructions

 

• First wash and cut the potato into half and cook until tender. Then peel the skin, mash nicely and keep aside. I got about 2 cups of mashed potato.
  
   
  
   
• Now wash the poha and soak in warm water for about 10 minutes. Then squeeze out the extra water and keep aside. I got about 2 cups of poha after squeezing out the water.
  
   
  
   
• In a mixing bowl add the poha, mashed potato, grated parmesan cheese, italian seasoning, salt, fresh ground black pepper, nutmeg powder and mix them thoroughly to get all the spices well combined.
  
   
• Cut the mozzarella cheese into small cubes and keep aside. In a wide bowl, mix the flour with water to get a flour paste and keep aside. Then in a plate, spread the bread crumbs and keep aside.
  
   
• Now make a ball out of the prepared potato-poha mix, make a dent in the middle of the ball and place the cut single mozzarella cheese cube in it. Take some more prepared mixture and cover the dent. Roll it in-between your palms to form a ball. Repeat the same process with the remaining mixture.
  
   
  
   
• Now heat a pan with oil for frying. First, dip the prepared croquettes in the flour paste and then roll it on the bread crumbs until evenly coated. Fry in oil until brown on all sides by turning them often. Drain the excess oil on a paper napkin.
  
   
  
   
  
   
• Enjoy hot with ketchup.

  
  
  

Notes | FAQ

- I used garlic salt instead of regular salt, to have a garlicky flavor. You can even use garlic powder or onion powder along with regular salt.

- Panko bread crumbs will give a extra crispiness to the croquettes.

- Do fry the croquettes in batches to maintain the oil temperature. You can either deep fry or shallow fry the croquettes.

- Quantity of croquettes varies according to the size you prepare.

- You can use fresh herbs instead of dry herbs. You can also experiment with other flavors you may like.