Monday, October 4, 2010

Fish cutlet

I tasted this cutlet for the first time in my friend Gnanam's house (school days). At that time cutlets were served only in restaurants in my home town and newer recipes were rare. Only the young girls would try newer recipes from the cook-books, while the elders sticking with their own tradition. Gnanam's elder sister Clara akka is the one I admire a lot for her cooking, dedication and religious activities. May be she is the one kindled my passion for Jesus, though we have not talked much on that Subject. We all have some role models in life in each and every thing we do, may be our dressing style or way of talking etc, I should say I learned much from her.... Her recipes are the best for me till now. Then I prepared this cutlet at home to impress my mom. So it became our family's  favorite from then on. After marriage I rarely cook fish because of hubby's taste buds:)

Fish cutlet served with lemon wedge. The picture didn't do justice here :)

Fishes suitable for cutlet:
Fish -1/4 kg
Shark (sura meen), king fish (vanjiram/seela meen), sword fish (vazhai meen),
Any fish with good flesh like salmon, red snapper(sankara / romeo), Tuna fish fresh or canned.
I generally prefer shark for this cutlet.

Cooking the fish:
Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a vessel. Add turmeric powder 1/2 tsp (to reduce fishy smell), salt - 1 tsp. Then add the washed / cleaned fish pieces along with the skin and bones.
Close it with a lid and cook for 5 minutes.
After it gets cool, peel off the skin and remove the bones.
Mash the fish with your hand or masher without any lumps.

Other ingredients:
Potato (boiled) - 2 (100 gm)
onion - 1
green chillies - 2
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
fennel - 1 tsp
curry leaf, cilantro, mint leaf (together) - finely chopped 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masal powder - 1 tsp
lime juice from 1/8 fruit
salt to taste
bread crumbs - 1 cup
egg - 1
oil - to shallow fry

Method:
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok. Add the fennel, finely chopped onion, green chilly, leaves and fry till they wilt. Then add the ginger garlic paste and stir well.
Now add the mashed fish, chilly powder, garam masal powder, salt and fry till moisture is gone.
Now mash the cooked potatoes and add, again stir well.
Sprinkle the lemon juice and switch off.

Frying the cutlet:
Heat some oil to shallow fry the cutlet in a broad based wok.
Pour the egg to a broad dish. Add salt and beat well.
In another plate spread the bread crumbs.
Now take a lemon size ball from the prepared fish mixture. Flatten it to get a oval or circular shape with 3/4 inch thickness.
Dip that in beaten egg, then dip it in bread crumbs.
Bring it to a perfect shape. Shallow fry it both sides. Drain oil and serve hot.
Fish cutlet is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve as evening snack or along with rice as side dish.
Mostly this fish cutlet goes well with tomato sauce.

Tips:
Making the cutlets with canned fish is much easy.
Bread crumbs can be prepared at home using few bread slices. Just leave them in a hot oven for a few minutes and powder it.
Left over sura puttu can be made into this cutlet the next day.
2 tins of Tuna fish (water based) and 2 small potatoes will yield 10 or 11 cutlets.

17 comments:

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

lovely cutlet! I know it must be great!

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Viki you know I make fish cutlets even with 'Rui' variety ..
Pics taken in night can't come out better than this . And I can guess ur fish cutlets have come out fab!!

Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi

Soumya said...

yummy fish cutlets...very tempting

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy cutlet...am drooling

Priya Suresh said...

Crispy cutlets asking me to have some rite now, wonderful cutlets VIki..

Sushma Mallya said...

It looks so crispy & delicious,must try it once...

dsdsds said...

Clara akka must be very happy to see this recipe.. Nice cutlet.. this minus the bread crumbs and deep frying will give crispy vadas i guess.. thanks for sharing

Jayanthy Kumaran said...

I was looking for this recipe & I got now from your space..this recipe seems to be very easy. Let me try immediately..Thanx a lot..:))
Tasty Appetite

Vikis Kitchen said...

Oriya foodie: Thanks dear.
Deepa: I will search for Rui fish next time. Thanks for comforting me on those pictures dear. Yes, its true...lighting was not good. Moreover, I didn't get used to the camera at that time:) I always like your snaps very much.
Soumya: Thanks dear.
Shama : Thanks dear.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Priya: Thanks dear. Wish you were here:)
Sushma:Thanks dear.

Vikis Kitchen said...

Hema: Thanks dear. Yes, Clara akka is such a wonderful person. She was so caring and selfless to such an extent that when they lost their mother, she started caring the whole family....at some point of time she sacrificed her studies too for her sister, my best friend. Great person to know for me:)
Jay: Thanks dear. Try it . you will definitely like it.

Sapna said...

nice and simple... fish is my fav and so is cutlet ... fish+cutlet yum!! i can't wait to try it..

Satya said...

fish cutlets looks very delicious ..yummy

Satya
http://www.superyummyrecipes.com

aipi said...

Very nicely made fish cutlets..they look crispy n delicious..I'm sure fish lovers are drooling right now looking
at the pics:)

US Masala

Suja Manoj said...

Fish cutlets looks fabulous..crispy and tasty

Unknown said...

LOvely space here..glad to follow you....grt recipe too...

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Dear Viki
Dusshera greetings to you.
How are you?
I was badly tied up and cd not see most of the blogs.
Awesome recipe. I make fish cutlet once in a while. But the spicing is bit different. I will use your spicing specially fennel next time i make it.
Have a nice day

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