I shared a New Year's Eve Appetizer collection, rounding up the best treats made by my food blogger friends.
I also shared the fact that I usually don't make those appetizers but that I was an avid fan of homemade colorful, creative and above all tasty canapé.
However, sometimes I like to make a batch and surprise visiting friends and I do have some goodie recipes in my repertoire.
Take for example these Goan beef croquettes, they are mouthwatering good and unique in their own ways!
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Goan beef croquette are a must in all kinds of family gatherings in Goa, especially in the catholic entourage.
I noticed that goan beef croquette would never miss in festive times and that too for a good reason.
I definitely enjoy munching on one or two croquettes and I do get the mellow spicy feeling of the meat.
The inside is soft and the outer part is perfectly crispy fried, coated with semolina.
Semolina is commonly used in Goa to coat meats and also fish, which was something new to me when I learned the local cooking because we mostly boil semolina in Europe.
To make Goan beef croquette you need to pick quality beef mince.
I normally buy double ground beef from a trusted butcher locally (it might be known as special mince too).
The meat should be red, fine and without impurities.
I pick the right butcher because of hygiene concerns.
Also I know that some locals like to make the goan beef croquettes with lamb meat instead of beef.
I personally haven't tried it yet for myself since I always prefer beef meat.
The making of the beef croquette is very simple.
The mince should be cooked with little water and ingredients such as onion, garlic, chilli's and spices before being processed further.
Then comes the blitz blending with lemon juice and the addition of soft fresh bread and an egg.
Then you should mix it all, form the croquettes, roll in semolina before frying them crispy golden.
Sounds easy and it is!
Yet, when you make the goan beef croquettes, just make sure that the meat is not soaking in water after having cooked it with the flavor giving ingredients.
This step is important because your meat mixture should be form-able and if it's too wet, the croquettes don't hold together.
In case you make a batch you can also freeze the not yet fried croquettes after having formed and coated them with semolina.
I do it at times, because usually croquettes are only eaten 1-3 at a time and this batch will result in 20 pieces at least.
📖 Recipe
Goan Beef Croquettes
Ingredients
- 500 Grams Ground Beef also known as special mince
- 2 medium sized purple onions
- 2 Centimeter Ginger Fresh
- 4 Pieces Garlic Cloves
- ½ Teaspoon Turmeric Ground
- 1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
- Salt according to your taste
- 1 Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- 2 Green Chili Pepper
- 1 Red Chili Pepper Kashmiri Chili
- 80 Milliliter Water
- Juice of one Lime locally known as Indian Lemon
- 2 soft slice bread without the rind
- 1 Egg
- Semolina locally known as Rawa
Instructions
- Add the ground meat to a pot with the roughly chopped onion, ginger, garlic and spices such as Turmeric Powder, garam masala, salt, pepper, roughly chopped green chillies and the dried red chilli.
- Also pour in the water and cook on slow to medium heat until all the water is absorbed and the ingredients are cooked. Important: the meat content should be dry!
- Allow to cool after cooking and then blend to a smooth texture with the lime juice.
- Add the meat mix to a mixing bowl and add the flaked slice bread with the egg. Mix it all so that all the ingredients are well combined.
- Keep in the fridge for 20 minutes. If the croquette mixture is cooled, it's easier to form them.
- Form your croquettes into cylinders or sausages as shown. The exact size and shape doesn't really matter. Just keep in mind that they will grow a bit in size while frying due to the egg. Then roll the shaped croquettes in the semolina.
- Heat up a pan with enough oil to shallow fry your goan beef croquettes on all sides until they are golden and crisp.
