Potato Chops

Goan Mince Meat Potato Chops is a soft delicate potato pattie stuffed with seasoned cooked beef. It is very similar to the Cuban Papas Rellenas with a couple of twists. Goan’s cook the meat stuffing without peas and carrots, they use cream of wheat instead of bread crumbs as coating and shallow fry the disk shape pattie instead of deep-frying the potato balls. I know it seems quite far apart but when you take a bite it taste very close to the potato chops.

There are many variations I have seen online. Some use a little flour mixed with the potato mash, an egg wash, bread crumb and corn starch. You can make it vegetarian by using cooked peas and carrots in garam masala with some onions and fresh cilantro/ coriander then mixed with the mashed potato and shallow fried. You can replace the beef with cooked ground chicken or turkey. At times my mom would use leftover beef roast. She would put small pieces through the meat grinder then saute it with some onions, green chili / jalapeno. Other times if meat was too less she would mix it with the potato mash. You want to skip tomato for this recipe as the meat needs to be dry to be stuffed.

The Goan Potato Chops were usually made as a side dish. As eating out got popular in the 90’s they used to be served as appetizers in coffee shops with a side of ketchup. You can make them mini’s for your cocktails parties.

Serving Size: 16-18 pattie 3″ disk shape

Ingredients:

Stuffing: Mince Meat

1 lbs of lean ground beef

2 tbsp of fresh ginger garlic paste

1 tsp of vinegar

1 medium onion chopped

1 jalapeno chopped (optional)

1-2 tbsp of xacuti masala

1/3 cup water

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a pot, saute the onions till translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute.

Add the xacuti masala, vinegar and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Next add the ground beef and mix it well with all the spices add water and salt to taste and cook covered for 15-20 minutes on medium heat. Uncover and cook for another 5-10 minutes till all the water dries.

Let the meat cool.

Potato Mash and Coating for Shallow Frying:

4 large russet potatoes

2 cups cream of wheat

salt to taste

oil for shallow frying

Directions:

Wash and boil the potatoes on medium heat till you can stick a knife  through, about 20-25 minutes. Take it out of the pot and let cool. Take off the skin and mash the potatoes, season with a little salt.

Divide in equal portions about the size of a golf ball. Flatten with your hand each ball and then stuff the center with cooked ground beef. Gather at the center the mashed potato to cover the meat and shape it into approx 1/2″ thick disk or hockey puck.

Cover in cream of wheat and shallow fry each side for about 1.5 to 2 minutes on each side till it has a nice golden brown crust.

Do you have a similar recipe with a different name. I would love to hear about it in the comment section of this post.