Corn Croquettes

Corn has remained one of our favorites in the family of cereal grains. Tired of eating it as usual, on the cob, I thought I’d experiment a little and churn out croquettes, instead.

Well, I wasnt following any recipe, so it was sheer imagination at work. I pulled out a cup of frozen kernels of corn from the freezer and thawed it at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then prepared a list of ingredients from the pantry. It was right then that I realized that I was running out of breadcrumbs. In no mood to drive all the way to the grocery store just to get a pack of breadcrumbs or a loaf of bread to make the crumbs at home, I decided to use Semolina as a substitute.

Semolina always has a place reserved on my grocery list. It’s the easiest thing to use and fix a quick meal or breakfast. More on Semolina

I pressure cooked the corn after thawing and sautéed all the ingredients. As I didn’t want the skin of the kernel to interfere while eating, I decided to blend all the sautéed ingredients without water, make croquettes of the batter, roll in semolina and pan fry, instead of the regular deep frying.

Ingredients

1 cup corn, pressure cooked and drained
1 medium sized onion, finely diced
½ teaspoon Ginger paste
½ teaspoon Garlic paste (You could use 1 teaspoon of Ginger-Garlic paste, instead)
½ teaspoon Fennel seeds
½ teaspoon Cumin seeds
¼ cup whole wheat flour (A good alternative would be Chickpea flour /Besan)
¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon Red Chili Powder

¼ cup diced Tomatoes
2 cups Semolina (Sooji Rava) or Bread crumbs
Salt
2 ½ tablespoons Oil
Cilantro, finely chopped

Method

Dry roast whole wheat flour for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.

Heat a tablespoon of oil; add fennel seeds, cumin seeds and onion. Sauté for 3-4 minutes or till onion turns transparent. Add tomatoes, ginger paste, garlic paste, turmeric powder and red chili powder. Mix well and sauté till onion turns golden brown and the ginger-garlic paste is cooked.

Add the dry roasted whole wheat flour. Mix well.

Throw in the pressure cooked (and drained) corn kernels. Do not add water. Add salt. Mix well. Cook covered for 4-5 minutes on medium flame.

Remove from flame, add finely chopped cilantro. Mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Sprinkle 1 cup of semolina on an even flat surface.

Blend the mixture at low speed, without water, till it gets a thick dry batter like consistency. If it’s too soft or watery add a little more of the roasted wheat flour to thicken.

Scoop out a teaspoon of the mixture, press or roll in the semolina to make croquettes. Set aside for 5-7 minutes, so that the semolina binds the mixture and holds it together. Repeat for all of the mixture.

Heat 1 ½ tablespoons oil in a pan. Place 3 croquettes, one by one, and fry for 2-3 minutes till done. Flip over and cook the second side for 2-3 minutes or till done. Repeat for the rest of the croquettes.

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with ketchup.

Outcome

It was a true Eureka moment in the kitchen! The sweetness of the corn and the aroma of the fennel seeds complemented each other. The recipe yields about 6-8 croquettes. If you like corn, then this would be a good try. For additional spice, add chopped green chilies along with the ginger –garlic paste.