The Wedding Beef Croquette Recipe

Follow these steps to cook the beef mince

• In a skillet, heat 1 tbspn oil and add the onions, chillies and tomatoes 
• Let it cook on medium low flame till the onions turn translucent
• Now add the ginger garlic paste and stir well
• Once you feel that the ginger garlic has cooked(as in you won't get the raw smell anymore), add in the Beef Mince, Jeerem Meerem powder, turmeric powder, chilly powder, vinegar, sugar, salt, Maggi cube and 2 table spoons water

  Note:- we do not add alot of water because alot of water oozes out of the beef Mince and eventually we want the beef Mince to be dry
• Stir and mix all the ingredients well
• Cover the skillet with a lid and let it cook on medium flame for about 20 minutes

  Note:- keep checking at intervals to ensure that there is enough water to cook the beef Mince or else it will get stuck and burnt at the bottom. If you feel it is getting stuck or burnt at the bottom, add in a little water and mix it well
• After about 20 minutes, add in your chopped coriander and stir it well
• Now keep your skillet open and turn your gas flame to high and keep stirring and mixing the mince till all the water from the mince is completely evaporated and the mince is dry(no gravy at all)
• Turn off your gas flame and keep the mince aside to cool at room temperature

Follow these steps to cook the beef chunks

• In a pressure cooker, add all the ingredients mentioned under the 'cook the beef chunks' section
• Mix it well and close the pressure cooker
• Place the pressure cooker on medium flame and let the beef chunks cook. I give it just two whistles.

  Note:- The beef chunks should not be fully cooked. It should be a bit tough while eating, only then will we be able to enjoy the "thread like" consistency that makes the 'wedding croquette' so unique
• Once the two whistles have blown off, turn off the gas flame and wait until all the heat from the pressure cooker has been released, only then open the pressure cooker
• Keep the pressure cooker open, and place it on high flame and let all the juices boil on high flame so that all the water evaporates and the there is a thick gravy like a paste that is left behind
• Turn off the gas flame and keep the beef chunks aside to cool, completely at room temperature

Follow these steps to make the croquette batter

• Before making the croquette batter, we have to first ensure that the Beef Mince and the Beef Chunks are completely cooled at room temperature
• Then, take a small mixer grinder, and make a paste of the beef Mince and empty it in a large bowl
• In the same mixer grinder, add the beef chunks and rotate the mixer using the start and stop method only twice or thrice

  Note:- the reason why I suggest we use the start and stop method of rotating the grinder, is because we do not want the beef to turn into a paste.
• It should look somewhat like this
  
• Empty the ground beef along with all the gravy/masala that is left in the pressure cooker, into the same bowl with the beef Mince paste
• Add in 1 egg, the mashed potato, corn flour, chopped coriander and chopped green chilly
• Hand mix all these Ingredients well to form a thick dry batter
  

Follow these steps to shape the croquettes

• Make small balls of 15-20 gms each
  
• Roll each ball on your palm to form a cylindrical shape
  
• Coat each of them completely, with semolina or bread crumbs (I prefer using Semolina)
  
• Follow these steps until all the croquettes are shaped
• After shaping them, if you do not wish to fry them all, you can freeze them for about 2 months in your deep freezer
• If you're going to freeze and use them later, always place them in an airtight container
  
• Place a parchment paper at the bottom of the container, Place one layer of the uncooked croquettes, place another parchment sheet on top of the croquettes and only then place the other set of croquettes on top of the parchment paper
  
• The reason why I stress on using parchement paper, is because this will keep the croquettes separated and will make it easier and less messy when, at a later stage, you have to remove the required quantity to be fried without having to remove the entire lot of croquettes 
• When frying frozen croquettes, always ensure that the croquettes are fully thawed and brought to room temperature. Only then fry them or else they will break in the oil

Follow these steps to fry the croquettes

• In a skillet, add oil for deep frying the croquettes

  Note:- I always prefer deep frying croquettes compared to shallow frying. According to me, the method of deep frying, evenly fries the inside as well as the outside of the croquette and it makes it look more presentable and also, just in case you weren't aware, if the oil is really nice and hot, deep frying pulls in far lesser oil than shallow frying😊😊😊
• Place the skillet on medium flame and let the oil become nice and hot

  Note:- This step may take some time because The oil has to become nice and Hot. If the oil isn't Hot enough, the croquettes will break in the oil. Not only croquettes, but anything deep fried, requires the oil to be Really hot. 
• Once the oil is Hot, drop in only 4-6 croquettes at a time and let them fry for about 3-5 minutes

  Note:- Here is why I prefer using Semolina to Bread crumbs for croquettes. Firstly, croquettes cannot be removed immediately from the oil. They have to cook for at least 5 minutes. Secondly, Because of this process, the bread crumbs tend to turn darker and the croquettes look burnt although they aren't burnt. 

  Also, I mentioned to add only 4-6 croquettes at a time because if you add too many at a time, firstly the oil will not be able to maintain it's heat(really hot is what we require) and secondly, if we add too many at a time, they will get all cramped up and will have no 'breathing space' to fry well and will in turn break or crack in the oil
  
• Once the croquettes are ready, remove them and place them on a kitchen paper towel to drain out any excess oil
• And Tadaaaaa... Your 'Wedding Croquettes' are ready 
  
• I bet you won't be content eating just One or Two of these beauties!! 

  Worry Not, Hog On....

  Enjoy😊😊😊

Follow these steps to make the Jeerem Meerem Powder

• - Add the following into to a mixer grinder

  *100gms Cumin seeds

  *100gms Pepper corns

  *50gms Cloves (if its too strong, you can add about 25-30gms)

  *50gms Cinnamon (if you don’t like the cinnamon flavor much, add only 30gms)

  -Grind all these ingredients to a fine powder

  -Transfer this spice mix into an Air Tight container

  -As soon as the powder is ready, it will be hot, due to the pressure of the mixer rotation. Please wait until the spice powder has turned completely cool and only then cover it with a lid

  -You can use Jeerem Meerem powder to make curries, chilly fries, cutlets, etc. Add the required quantity as per your taste(Please use only a DRY spoon while removing the Jeerem Meerem powder from the Air Tight container)

  -Jeerem Meerem powder should be stored in a dry place. It can be stored up to 1 year.

Follow these steps to make the Ginger Garlic paste

• Add the following into a mixer grinder

  *100 gms Garlic (skinned and roughly chopped)

  *60 gms Ginger (thoroughly washed and roughly chopped. Some people like to remove the skin of the ginger. I don't. However, you can do it the way you are comfortable 🙂

  -Grind these two ingredients to a thick fine paste

  -Transfer this paste into an Air Tight container

  -As soon as the paste is ready, it will be hot, due to the pressure of the mixer rotation. Please wait until the paste has turned completely cool and only then cover it with a lid

  -Ginger Garlic paste should be stored in the refrigerator. It can be stored up to 15-20 days

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