Croquette

A croquette is a small breadcrumbed fried food roll containing, usually as main ingredients, mashed potatoes or ground meat (veal, beef, chicken, or turkey), shellfish, fish, cheese, vegetables, and mixed with béchamel or brown sauce, and soaked white bread, egg, onion, spices and herbs, wine, milk, beer, or any of the combination thereof, sometimes with a filling, e.g. sautéed onions, mushrooms, or boiled eggs (Scotch eggs). The croquette is usually shaped into a cylinder, disk, or oval shape, and then deep-fried. The croquette (from the French croquer, "to crunch") gained worldwide popularity, both as a delicacy and as a fast food.

Mashed potato-filled croquettes are often served as a side dish in winter holiday meals, such as Christmas. In fast food cuisine, varieties exist without potatoes, but with cheese, beef, or goulash, often in a filling based on béchamel sauce.

Asia

India

A potato-filled croquette called aloo tikki is very popular in northern India and is typically served with a stew. They are mostly eaten as snacks at home and are also popularly sold by road-side vendors. In West Bengal, it is called alu chop, as in Bangladesh. Sometimes it is called a "cutlet" and eaten plain or as a fast food variation that is served inside a hamburger bun (like a vegetarian burger). Meat croquettes called kababs are made with minced mutton. Lightly spiced beef croquettes are a popular snack and appetiser among the Christian communities in Goa and Kerala.