Nuggets refer to the chunk of meat or vegetables which is battered or breaded and then deep-fried in the oil. Vegetable nuggets is a mix of vegetables among which potatoes are the must-included vegetable (as they are the binding agent!) and the remaining veggies could be of our choice.

Potatoes along with the other vegetables and spices are mixed, and chunks of them are supposed to be rolled to small balls. Make the Nuggets cheesy by stuffing a block of cheese inside each ball. The cheesy Vegetable balls are then battered and dusted in flaky corn to get the perfect Outer-Flaky and Inner-Cheesy Vegetable Nuggets.

What Vegetables can be used?

• Some possible options could be Potatoes, Carrot, Beans, Beetroot, Peas, Cabbage, Broccoli, and Cauliflower. As you increase the vegetables, you are in need to increase the number of potatoes used.
• Vegetables with more water content should be avoided as it makes the nugget balls sticky and breakable.
• I add sweet potato to get the slight sweet hint. Obviously, it acts as a binding agent too.
• Sweet potatoes, Potatoes and Peas (if used) need to be boiled before. Remaining vegetables can be added straight and fried without any impacts.
• Grated vegetables will bind easily with the potatoes. So, I suggest adding grated vegetables.
• Cheese or Paneer can be added to the vegetables but the amount used is what matters much! More cheese or Paneer could break the balls while frying. You can add either cheese or paneer, or add both cheese and paneer, or omit them both. (Careful! Perhaps more cheese may break the nuggets!).

What makes the Nuggets Cheesy?

• Is it goes cheesy just by adding cheese to the vegetables? No, definitely no.
• So, I make it Cheesy by hiding a piece of cheese inside each vegetable nugget balls.
• Mozzarella cheese is the best option to hide inside which when fried and revealed would be a gooey kind of sticky melting cheese which I always want in my nuggets to surprise my cute kid!

• Make the nuggets more cheesy by adding processed cheese blocks to the vegetables (limit the amount of cheese!). Let me share the perfect ratio which works best without breaking the balls.

How to get Crispy & Flaky Nuggets?

• I batter the vegetable balls in a corn slurry (corn flour+water) and dust them in the corn flakes to get the flaky and crispy outside.
• You could use bread crumbs instead of flakes which also gives a nice texture and crispiness.
• Crumbled oats could also be used.

What could I do if my balls break due to any reason?

• The amount of cheese in the vegetable balls (if used) is really the matter to analyze.
• Balls are still breakable, even without cheese? I have some options for you.
• Add some cornflour to the vegetables while mixing them.
• Adding all-purpose flour also helps (but, I don't prefer). Also, you could add besan flour (or gram flour) to bind the vegetables.
• Increasing the number of potatoes also helps.
• Dipping balls in a corn slurry also helps bind the vegetables and avoid breakage of balls.
• Try any one of the above solutions or strictly follow the ingredients to avoid the balls from breaking.

How long the Nuggets need to get Fried?

• Fry until they start to show brownish colour on their surface.
• If you fry for a longer time, our surprise stuff (Cheese!) could probably run outside spoiling our super snack.
• Fry in a medium flame to get the perfect crispiness and the melting cheese inside.
• Frying in a high flame tends to brown the outer layer fast without melting the cheese (Keep an eye on the flame!).

So, the kid-friendly recipe which I hoped best is what I'm posting here. The recipe would be a loving evening snack to your kids which is filled with melting cheese and health filling vegetables. The nuggets can be deep-fried, shallow-fried or even air-fried.

The flakiness and crispiness followed by the soft spicy vegetables, followed by the gooey cheese (mmmm...heavenly) would get no chance to get hated by anyone, not only kids. So, 'what to use' and 'how much to use' things should carefully be chosen to better bind the vegetables and the end result would be incredibly awesome!

⏲ Preparation Time: 20 minutes
⏲ Cooking Time: 20 minutes
🍴 Yields: 27 to 30 Cheesy Vegetable Nuggets

What to Use?

• Potato - 2 (big-sized)
• Sweet Potato- 1 (medium-sized)
• Carrot - 1/2 cup (grated)
• Cabbage - 1/2 cup (grated)
• Paneer - 1/2 cup (grated)(optional)
• Processed Cheese - 1 cup (50g or 4 cubes)
• Corn flour - 1 tbsp +2 tbsp for corn slurry
• Gram (or besan or all-purpose) flour - 2 tbsp
• Salt - as needed
• Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin Powder -1/4 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Mozzarella cheese (cubed to keep inside each nugget balls)
• Oil- for frying (if plan to do deep fry or shallow fry)

Cheesy Vegetable Nugget Balls

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Chunks of the selective combination of vegetables, stuffed with a block of cheese, battered in a corn slurry, breaded in a crumbled flakes of corn, and then fried (deep or shallow or air fried) to get the crispy, flaky & Cheesy Vegetable Nuggets.

Steps Involved:

Boil the potatoes and sweet potato in a pressure cooker for 3 to 4 whistles or until well-cooked. Once cooled, peel-off and get the boiled root vegetables mashed well. Mix carrot, cabbage, paneer and cheese to the mashed vegetables. Add cornflour and gram (or besan flour) to the mixture. Add salt, black pepper powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder to the vegetable mixture and mix everything well. Take a small chunk and make a round ball.  Flatten the ball and keep a block of mozzarella cheese inside. Fold and roll again to get a round ball with the cheese stuffing. Dip the ball in a corn slurry. Roll the battered ball in the crumbled corn flakes until the whole ball is covered with the flaked corn crumbles. Repeat with the remaining vegetable mixture and you will get 27 to 30 nuggets based on the size of your nugget balls. Fry the nugget balls and serve hot. Dip in a Tomato ketchup and get melted in the taste of Melting cheese inside. Visual Treat: https://youtu.be/49Eb7uSpfeo Don't forget to Subscribe our Youtube channel before you Start to Watch

Step-by-Step Procedure with Pictures

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How to Make?

• Boil the two big-sized potatoes and one medium-sized sweet potato in a pressure cooker for 3 to 4 whistles or until fully-cooked. If using peas, boil them as well.
• Meanwhile, grate the vegetables, paneer & cheese (if using) and get them ready for the vegetable balls. Chopping doesn't work great for this nugget ball. So, go for grating as they allow them to bind with each other nicely.

• Let the pressure releases from the cooker. Peel-off the skins of potatoes and sweet potato. Make sure they boiled well to easily get mashed.

• Take a tablespoon of cornflour and mix it with little water to make a running corn slurry. Keep the corn slurry aside. 

• Mash the root vegetables well and mash the peas as well if using in your nugget balls. The lumpy mixture is absolutely not a part of this game. So, what you need to do is get the things nicely mashed until smooth.

• Add in the grated carrots (remind you! grating works well).

• Add in the grated cabbage.

• Add in the half cup or 25g of grated paneer (optional). Changing the quantity may break the balls.

• Add the grated cheese. Either processed cheese block weighing 50g or 4 processed cheese cubes can be used.

• Add 1 tablespoon of cornflour. 

• Add 2 tablespoons of a gram (or besan or all-purpose) flour. 

• Add the required salt.

• Add the black pepper powder or freshly crushed black pepper.

• Add the cumin powder.

• Add the red chilli powder.

• Mix everything well. If you stick strictly to the mentioned amount of ingredients, your vegetable mixture won't be sticky! 

• What can I do if my vegetable mixture turns sticky? Do add some more cornflour and make it non-sticky. For the mentioned amount, this step is not necessary.

• Take a small chunk of the vegetable mixture and round it using your hands to make a small ball.

• Now, flatten the vegetable ball to some extent.

• Place a small block of mozzarella cheese inside. Make sure the cheese stuffing is at the core of the ball. Why keep the cheese at the core? Corner-placed cheese may melt and ooze out from the nugget balls making the balls messier.

• Fold and round the ball again to get the vegetable ball with the cheese block at its core. 

• Dip the ball in the corn slurry. Don't skip this step as the battering prevents your balls from breaking. Also, it makes your balls crispier.

• Roll the battered ball in the crumbled corn flakes. You could use bread crumbs or oat crumbs. I prefer flaked corn crumbs for the flaky & crispy nugget balls. Roll until the ball is wholly covered with the corn crumbs.

• Repeat the procedure for all the chunks of vegetable mixture. You would get 27 to 30 nugget balls based on the size of the chunk you take to make the balls.

• Fry the balls on the medium flame until they start to show brownish colour on the surface. 

• Serve the cheesy vegetable nugget balls hot with tomato ketchup.  

Visual Treat:

https://youtu.be/49Eb7uSpfeo

Don't forget to Subscribe our Youtube channel before you Start to Watch

 Tips:

• Adding more cheese or paneer to the vegetable mixture may break the ball while frying. 
• Don't skip the dip in a corn slurry as it prevents the ball from breaking and provides crispy outside.
• Make sure to place the cheese at the core while stuffing. If misplaced, melting cheese may ooze out from the ball easily which may pay the way for the messy balls which we never ever want!
• Don't fry the balls on the high flame as the browny show may appear earlier letting the ball undercooked and perhaps, failing to melt the cheese stuffed inside.
• Increase the number of potatoes used if planning to add more vegetables. Sticking strictly to the ingredients will yield unbreakable crispy & flaky nugget balls as the recipe posted is time-tested.
• The recipe can be easily halved or doubled as per your need. 

Get yourselves Melted in the Melting Cheese stuffed inside!