Bird’s Nest 5/5 (1)

This is my guest’s all-time favourite, it’s been a smashing hit starter in all my parties. It’s such a lip-smacking appetizer, relished from kids to adults. You’ll definitely add this to your party menu, trust me, your guests will fall in love with this appetizer and you’ll be drenched in appreciation and applause.

If you are looking for a Potato based starter with a distinctive presentation to stun your guest, you are at the right place. This appetizer is made with simple ingredients, all available in your kitchen counter. Three main ingredients of this starter are Potato, Peas and Vermicelli. This recipe is an inspiration from my first collection of cookbooks and hence close to my heart.

Generally, I always prepare the starters a day before my party, this appetizer is no different. You can refrigerate them for the next day or freeze them in an airtight container for future use. One more advantage on storing the starters in the fridge is it helps to set and avoid any disaster of breaking in the oil while frying. I highly recommend you to store any appetizer for a minimum  of 3 hrs to overnight in the refrigerator in order to make sure it holds and avoid any disintegration while frying.

My freezer is always a life saver as I tend to store appetizers in packs. It’s handy when I need a patty for my burger or I have surprise guest at home, just defrost and fry it.

Coming to the description of the recipe’s name, Bird’s nest,  the Vermicelli coating gives you the feel of the nest’s straw, while Potato coating gives you the feel of the soft stuffing the nest carries, the highlight is the inner Peas which gives you the feel of eggs laid by the bird. Don’t panic vegetarians, it’s a pure veg starter…😁. Crispiness of the outer covering, softness of the mashed potatoes, with a crunchy chatpata peas at the centre…it’s a blast of different texture and taste in your one bite.

Don’t forget to scroll down to the Notes, you’ll have a bonus recipe under my kitchen secret. My Kitchen Secrets saves you when you are puzzled with leftovers. Every recipe in this blog has a surprise package in the kitchen secret which will definitely make you awestruck…😲. You’ll visualize how each leftover of that recipe transforms into an unimaginable dish, unleash your creativity and explore beyond limits.

Click here to jump to recipe card!

Boil roughly 550 grams of potatoes and peas either in steamer method. In steamer method, steam the cut potatoes with little salt for 15 -20 minutes, then add ½ cup fresh peas to the potatoes, cook for another 10 -15 minutes till both are cooked well.

Or pressure cook method. In this method, cook potatoes and peas separately with salt till they are cooked well.

Drain and peel the potatoes if they are not peeled before cooking, mash it well.

It yields 1 and ½ cup mashed potatoes.

To this add red chilli powder, amchoor / dry mango powder , black salt, salt and green chutney.

Mix thoroughly and keep it aside.

For peas mixture, heat oil in a pan, add finely chopped onions.

Sauté well till golden brown, then add chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt to taste.

Finally add cooked peas and mix well and let it cool.

Prepare the coating mixture by mixing all purpose flour, corn flour, salt and water, mix well and keep it aside.

Keep the roasted fine thin vermicelli (break it if they are too long) in a wide bowl / plate. Make balls (big lemon size) out of mashed potatoes. Arrange roasted vermicelli, potato balls, peas mixture, flour mixture on a working surface.

Now take a spiced potato ball, dig a deep hole in the middle (refer video or 👇picture).

Stuff a small scoop of sautéed peas into it.

Close the hole by pulling the potatoes from sides

And smoothen the ball by rolling them in palms.

Now dip the balls in the flour mixture (mix the flour with a spoon as the cornflour tends to clog and water stands separate) and coat it well on all sides.

Drain the excess flour and roll it gently over roasted vermicelli and make sure the ball is well coated with vermicelli on all sides.

Similarly repeat the pattern for all the remaining potato balls and arrange them on a dish or plate with space in between. Cover the dish with a cling film and refrigerate for minimum 3 hours or preferably overnight.

Day of frying, take oil in a deep or shallow pan, sufficient enough to fry the balls golden brown and heat it in medium high flame. Drop the balls gently once the oil is perfect to fry (check by dropping a vermicelli in the oil, it should come up immediately from the bottom, perfect for frying), also make sure the oil is not too smoky (it’ll burn the vermicelli quickly). Do not overcrowd the oil with more balls. Depending upon the size of your pan drop 2 or 3 at a time,

Gently flip it once and make sure they are cooked and golden fried on all sides.

Drain the excess oil by spreading them on kitchen tissue. Once it’s cooled down, slide a knife gently through the centre of the ball and go deep down and slice it into two equal halves.

If you cut open the balls perfectly in the middle part, you’ll see the peas sitting in the centre, quite resembling eggs in a nest.

Serve them hot with any dips of your choice. My suggestion is, it doesn’t need any dip as the coating, potato mixture and peas mixture are spiced well, they complement each other and tastes absolutely heaven on its own.

Recipe Card

Preparation time : 40 minutes

Cooking/ Frying time : 10 minutes

Cuisine: Indian

Category : Appetizers / Starters

Yields : 9 whole / 18 halves.

Author : Manimala

Ingredients:

Potato mixture:

Boiled mashed potatoes  – 1 ½ cup

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Dry mango powder / Amchoor powder – ¼ tsp

Green chutney – 1 tsp

Black salt – a pinch

Salt – ¼ tsp

Peas mixture:

Boiled peas – ½ cup

Chopped onion – ⅓ cup

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Garam masala powder – ¼ tsp

Chilli powder – ½ tsp

Salt – ¼ tsp or to taste

Oil – to sauté

Coating mixture:

All purpose flour / Maida – 1 tbsp

Corn flour – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Water – nearly ¼ cup

For Dusting:

Roasted thin vermicelli – ½ cup

Oil – for frying

Instructions:

1. Boil roughly 550 grams of potatoes and peas either in steamer method or pressure cook method.
   1. In steamer method, steam the cut potatoes with little salt for 15 -20 minutes, then add ½ cup fresh peas to the potatoes, cook for another 10 -15 minutes till both are cooked well.
   2. In pressure cook method, cook potatoes and peas separately with salt till they are cooked well.
2. Drain and peel the potatoes if they are not peeled before cooking, mash it well. It yields 1 and ½ cup mashed potatoes. To this add red chilli powder, amchoor  / dry mango powder , black salt, salt and Green chutney. Mix thoroughly and keep it aside.
3. For peas mixture, heat oil in a pan, add finely chopped onions, saute well till golden brown, then add chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt to taste. Finally, add cooked peas and mix well and let it cool.
4. Prepare the coating mixture by mixing all purpose flour, corn flour, salt and water, mix well and keep it aside.
5. Keep the roasted fine thin vermicelli (break it if they are too long) in a plate.
6. Make balls (big lemon size) of mashed potatoes, dig a deep hole in the middle (refer video or picture), stuff a small scoop of sautéed peas into it. Close the hole by pulling the potatoes from sides and smoothen the ball by rolling them in palms.
7. Now dip the balls in the flour mixture (mix the flour with a spoon as the cornflour tends to clog and water stands separate) and coat it well on all sides.
8. Drain the excess flour and roll it gently over roasted vermicelli and make sure the ball is well coated with vermicelli on all sides.
9. Similarly, repeat the pattern for all the remaining potato balls and arrange them on a dish or plate with space in between. Cover the dish with a cling film and refrigerate for minimum 3 hours or preferably overnight.
10. Day of frying, take oil in a deep or shallow pan, sufficient enough to fry the balls golden brown and heat it in medium high flame.
11. Drop the balls gently once the oil is perfect to fry (check by dropping a vermicelli in the oil, it should come up immediately from the bottom, perfect for frying), also make sure the oil is not too smoky (it’ll burn the vermicelli quickly).
12. Do not overcrowd the oil with more balls. Depending upon the size of your pan drop 2 or 3 at a time, gently flip it once and make sure they are cooked and golden fried on all sides. Drain the excess oil by spreading them on kitchen tissue.
13. Once it’s cooled down, slide a knife gently through the centre of the ball and go deep down and slice it into two equal halves.
14. If you cut open the balls perfectly in the middle part, you’ll see the peas sitting in the centre, quite resembling eggs in a nest.
15. Serve them hot with any dips of your choice. My suggestion is, it doesn’t need any dip as the coating, potato mixture and peas mixture are spiced well, they complement each other and tastes absolutely heaven on its own.

Notes:

• You can cook potatoes and peas in steamer or pressure cook method. I personally suggest steamer method as the potato cooks perfectly without absorbing too much water which is apt for frying (will not absorb too much oil).
• If you don’t have steamer at home, no worries, you can cook with pressure pan. Make sure you add little water into the vessel which you place inside the pan (refer picture or video), so that your potatoes do not absorb too much water while cooking. This is the thumb rule if you are preparing potato mixture for any of your starter, if it involves deep frying. This helps the starter to absorb less oil while frying.
• If you are using fresh peas, it may take less time to cook. Here I used my own frozen peas, yes, I buy fresh peas during seasons and freeze them in an airtight container. Defrost and use it when you need, thus avoiding store bought frozen peas.
• The above said quantity of potatoes yield 9 balls which cut into two yield 18 halves, that can serve almost 6 people.
• Spice up the potatoes and peas according to your taste. Instead of Green chutney, you can add green chilli and coriander / mint paste, adds extra zing to the potato mixture.
• Regarding the vermicelli, try to buy thin version as it’s perfect to resemble the straw of the nest and also super crunchy in it’s texture. If you don’t get thin ones, still you can replace with thick ones, but texture wise you need to compromise.
• While frying flame has to be medium high. As the vermicelli are already roasted, if the flame is too high, they tend to burn and it’ll spoil the taste of the entire starter. So always stick to medium high flame and your bird’s nest will be fried in 2 – 3 minutes as the potato and peas mixtures are already cooked, only the outer covering needs to be fried to get that crunchier texture.

Now time for my Kitchen Secrets…😉😍

I’ll assure you that you’ll not find any potato Bird’s nest leftover as it’ll be consumed while frying itself. I bet you’ll be stuck with hardly one or two pieces left for you to taste…..🤤🤤😋. There are only chances you’ll have peas mixture left. Don’t worry, I’m here to rescue you and help you transform these peas into a different recipe hard for your family members to recognise where it came from….inquisitive to know, its my kids all time favourite, Potato Peas Paratha / Aloo Matar Paratha.