Recipe: Exotic Veggie Patty With Pumpkin Tortellini

Chef Ranbir Singh's fresh and vibrant Exotic Vegetable Patty or steak is grilled and then served with pumpkin tortellini, silky pumpkin puree, a lace-like carrot tuile or wafer, pickled vegetables and creamy avocado puree.

All put together it's quite the sumptuous gourmet platter, even if, unusually, it's mostly plant-based.

From Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, Chef Singh has worked at the Fortune Inn Haveli Gandhinagar and the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel in Pune before heading to the sun-dappled Maldives.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Atmosphere Kanifushi

Exotic Vegetable Patty

Serves: 2

Ingredients

20 gm broccoli, florets cut free and finely chopped
30 gm spinach, finely chopped
20 gm edamame beans, coarsely crushed in a blender
10 gm red quinoa, cooked
5 gm pumpkin seeds, dry roasted
3 gm flax seeds, dry roasted
20 gm asparagus, finely chopped
5 gm garlic, chopped
10 gm onions, chopped
10 ml extra virgin olive oil
10 gm salt
3 gm black pepper powder
15 gm paneer or cottage cheese, crumbled
8 gm curry powder

For the pumpkin tortellini

10 gm lal bhopla or butternut pumpkin slices
5 gm ricotta cheese
3 gm walnut
Salt to taste

For the pumpkin puree

30 gm lal bhopla or butternut pumpkin
5 gm garlic
2 gm fresh sage
10 ml butter
50 ml vegetable stock (please see the note below)
5 ml cream
Salt to taste

For the carrot tuile or wafer

15 ml carrot juice
5 gm flour
5 ml extra virgin olive oil
40 ml water
Salt to taste

For the mushroom pate

20 gm button mushrooms, chopped
3 gm fresh thyme
5 gm onions, chopped
3 gm garlic, chopped
10 gm butter
20 ml vegetable stock (please see the note below)
1 ml truffle oil
Salt to taste

For the pickled vegetables

1 gm tej patta or bay leaf
1 gm black peppercorn
5 gm ginger
30 ml apple cider vinegar or if possible a fruity vinegar
10 ml white wine vinegar
15 gm sugar
5 gm green zucchini slices
Salt to taste

For the avocado puree

30 gm ripe avocado
5 ml olive oil
3 gm salt
3 gm basil
Squeeze of lime juice, or as per taste

Method

For the patty

In a food processor coarsely grind the edamame beans.
Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed kadhai or frying pan over medium heat.
Add the chopped garlic and the onions.
Saute till the onions turns translucent.
Add the curry powder.
Keep stirring and sauteeing till it gives off an aroma.
Add the chopped vegetables, along with the edamame beans, one ingredient after the next.
Cook till the vegetables are tender and its moisture evaporates.
Take off heat and cool.
Add the seeds, paneer, quinoa, pepper and salt to the mixture.
Mix well.
Using your hands, shape it into a round ball and flatten it.
Turn on the grill to high.
Using a pastry brush, baste oil on both sides of the patty and season with additional salt and the pepper if required.
Place the patty on/in the grill and cook until it begins to brown.
Flip and cook on the other side for 3-5 minutes.
Take off heat and transfer to a wooden board.
Keep aside till the other components are ready.

For the pumpkin tortellini

Cut the butternut pumpkinto thin round slices.
Boil water in a saucepan and blanch the pumpkin slices till tender.
Take care to not over-cook.
Take off heat and keep aside.
Finely chop the walnuts.
Transfer into a bowl and mix with the ricotta cheese.
Add salt and mix further.
To stuff the tortellini, place 1 tsp of the mixture on the pumpkin slices and close up into a triangular shape (please see the pic above).
Keep aside.

For the pumpkin puree

Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat.
Add the garlic, sage, chopped butternut pumpkin and saute.
Add the vegetable stock and simmer over low heat till the pumpkin is tender.
Add salt.
Take off heat and blend in the food processor.
Add the butter, cream and blend further till it's a velvety-textured puree.

For the carrot tuile

Add all the ingredients and mix well.
Heat in heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat.
Stir over low heat and cook till all the water evaporates and a thin carrot web is ready.
Take off heat and cut into the desired shape.
Keep aside.

For the mushroom pate

Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the garlic, onions, thyme.
Add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes.
Add the vegetable stock and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes till the stock dries up.
Season.
Take off heat and add the butter and the cream.
Blend in food processor till creamy.

For the pickled vegetables

Heat all the ingredients (except the zucchini) in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
Let the liquids reduce to half and take off heat and keep aside to cool.
Season the zucchini with salt.
Pat dry.
Place the zucchini in the cold liquid and refrigerate for a day for better flavour.

For the avocado puree

Blend all the ingredients in the food processor till it is a fine paste.
Transfer into a bowl and keep aside.

For the assembly

Place the vegetable patty on ae plate.
Top it with a scoop of mushroom pate.
Arrange the carrot tuile, pumpkin tortellini and pickled vegetables as shown in the picture above.
Add a few tsp of the pumpkin and avocado puree and savour with grilled garlic toast.

Editor's Note: Consider pairing the patty with Kathryn Kannampuzha's Juicy Roast Chicken.

To veganise the recipe, use mashed tofu instead of paneer in the cutlet, use cashew butter instead of butter, skip the cream in the pumpkin puree and stuff the pumpkin tortellinis with vegan cream cheese. To make the recipe skip making the carrot wafer.

Edmame beans, apple cider vinegar and truffle oil are available in gourmet grocery stores. Fresh herbs, asparagus are available with certain vegetable sellers in your local vegetable market.

Ideally use raw pumpkin. Over-ripe pumpkin can be quite sweet.

For a little extra spice, add a few dashes of Tabasco to the ingredients for the patty while mixing.

Liquid broth is available in some gourmet food stores. Or substitute the vegetable broth by combining 1 vegetable soup cube or 1 vegetable broth/bouillon cube or 1 tsp vegetable broth/bouillon powder with 2 cups boiling water.

Or substitute the vegetable broth by combining 1 chicken soup cube or 1 chicken broth/bouillon cube or 1 tsp chicken broth/bouillon powder with 2 cups boiling water.

Or make vegetable broth from scratch by boiling 4-5 cups water with 1-2 large roughly chopped carrots, 3 stalks roughly chopped celery with leaves, 2 medium onions chopped in chunks, 5-6 whole black peppercorns, 2 tsp salt, 4 tbsp chopped parsley with stems, 2 laung or cloves, 5 pods garlic, 2 tej patta or bay leaves till vegetables are tender and the water is steeped with the flavour of the vegetables and spices.
Strain and use 2 cups for the recipe.