Irachi Petti - Malabar Iftar recipe

I always knew of Ramadan but it is only after moving to UAE, I realised how religiously it is observed and what iftar and suhoor mean! The world of blogging introduced me to a lot of Malabar snacks mostly fried but really mouth watering. I tend to stay away from deep fried stuff, primarily because I have pimples popping on my face as soon as I relish on anything fried. Since it is shorter office timings during Ramadan, my husband one day happened to come home with some snacks that he picked up from the local Kerala cafeteria for our evening tea together (that is a rarity too - happens only during Ramadan). It was all deep fried stuff and I could not resist it - pakoda, samosa, irachi petti, chatti pathiri, mulagu bajji, ulli vada. It was all there. I waited for two days after we had this - Yay! No pimples and that made my resolution to prepare a fried malabar snack stronger.

That is how I ended up making irachi petti with the minced meat I had in the fridge. Irachi means meat and petti means box. So basically this dish has meat filling that is sealed in a box made of crepe!
So here is a recipe to try this Ramadan!

Ingredients

For the filling

1. Minced meat - 400 gms (beef, mutton or chicken)
2. Onion - 3 medium finely chopped
3. Ginger - 2 tbsp
4. Garlic - 2 tsp
5. Green Chilli - 3 finely chopped
6. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
8. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
9. Garam masala - 1 tsp
10. Lime juice - 1 tbsp
11. Salt to taste
12. Oil

For the crepe

1. All purpose flour - 1 cup
2. Egg - 1 beaten
3. Salt to taste
4. Water as needed

For coating

1. Egg - 1 beaten
2. Bread crumbs
3. Oil

Method

• Heat oil in a pan. Fry the onions until it softens and add the ginger, garlic and green chilly. Saute till the raw smell disappears.
• Add the turmeric powder, corriander powder and pepper powder. Cook the masala and add the minced meat. Mix it well to coat.
• Add salt and keep it covered until it is cooked. Adjust salt if need be and add lime juice. Turn off the flame.
• Prepare the crepe batter by mixing together the flour, egg, water and salt in a bowl. Add water as needed to form a runny batter.
• Heat a tawa and pour a laddle full of batter onto the hot tawa. Ensure that the flame is on medium and prepare the round crepe by running the laddle in a circular pattern on the batter.
• Flip over once and cooked gently. Do not let it get crisp as it might break open while placing the filling.
• This batter makes around 8 crepes.

How to fill the crepe and fry

• Take one of the crepe and place two spoonful of filling on the center of the round crepe. Using the same spoon adjust the filling to form either a square shape or a rectangle shape. This is done just to make the irachi petti hold the shape.
• In order to cover the filling, first fold over one side towards the top of the filling, such that the bend in the fold is at the point where the filling ends.Repeat the same with the opposite side.
•  Now fold the other two ends one at a time thereby sealing the filling in ( may form a square or a rectangle shape). It is always better to have larger crepes made so that the folding is easy and it stays. Smaller folded flaps tend to open up while cooking.
• Place this on a plate with the folded flaps facing down. Repeat the same with other crepes.
• Heat oil in a pan,  Dip each of the petti in the beaten egg and coat it with bread crumbs. Then place the petti in the pan with the flap side facing down. Cook till it browns well on one side and then flip over.
• Serve hot !!

You may also note

• You may add corriander leaves to the meat filling.
• Once the crepe has been folded always place it with the flap facing downward so that the weight tends to hold the flap in place.
• I prefer shallow frying but you may also deep fry it.