Dhoper chop

An egg-shaped potato cutlet in a jacket of white bread, whose name means a lie.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee).

Ingredients

• 700 g potatoes, boiled and crushed
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 3 green chillies, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 8 slices white bread, crusts off
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. AN EGG-SHAPED POTATO CUTLET IN A JACKET OF WHITE BREAD, WHOSE NAME MEANS A LIE. Its article gives the form first -- A HUGE EGG-SHAPED SNACK IN A BREAD JACKET WITH KETCHUP AND ONION SALAD AND SOMETIMES WITH A CUP OF TEA -- and then the etymology, which is the better half: THE WORD 'DHOP' IS A BENGALI WORD WHICH MEANS 'A LIE' AND THE WORD 'CHOP' MEANS A SMALL CUTLET, FRITTERS OR CROQUETTE IN BENGALI.
2. AND IT HAS A DATE AND A NAMED COOK, WHICH ALMOST NOTHING HERE DOES. Its article credits the first one to MILON KANTI DEY, in 1972, at JADAVPUR UNIVERSITY'S MILONDA'S CANTEEN.
3. THE FILLING IS POTATO AND SPICE, AND THE ARTICLE LISTS THE SPICES. POTATOES, AND SOMETIMES MEAT ARE PRIME INGREDIENT WITH WHITE BREAD, and the spices MAY INCLUDE ONION, GREEN CHILIES, PEPPER, CUMIN POWDER, GARAM MASALA POWDER, KASHMIRI CHILI POWDER, CORIANDER POWDER, SALT, GHEE, BUTTER OR ANY VEGETABLE OIL. All of those are below.
4. COOK THE FILLING IN THE GHEE UNTIL IT IS DRY AND HOLDS A SHAPE. Onion and chilli soft first, then the spices, then the crushed potato, eight or ten minutes. Then cooled completely.
5. SHAPE FOUR LARGE EGGS, AND MAKE THEM LARGE. The article's word is HUGE, and the size is part of the point: this is one snack, not a plate of small ones.
6. THE JACKET IS BREAD, WETTED AND SQUEEZED. Crusts off, each slice dipped in water for a second and then pressed flat between your palms to get the water out. It becomes a dough you can mould.
7. WRAP EACH EGG IN TWO SLICES AND SEAL IT SMOOTH. Press the joins together and roll the whole thing in your hands until there is no seam left to open in the oil.
8. FRY AT A MEDIUM HEAT UNTIL DEEP BROWN ALL OVER, SIX OR SEVEN MINUTES. Turn them so they colour evenly: the bread goes from pale to dark quickly on one side. Its article serves them with ONION, SALAD, KETCHUP, FRIED POTATOES, and sometimes a cup of tea.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes