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.

Mango Ice cream

This is my hubby's most favorite ice cream. He always grabs a pack of this flavor whenever we visit a nearby Asian grocery shop. On seeing that, I wanted to make it at home to get the true Indian flavored Mango ice cream. while browsing, I got this recipe from the video, hosted by Hetal and Anuja. Thanks dearies. You have given me a very handy recipe admired by all our friends and family.
From then on, our Fridays can't be complete without this yummy bowl of ice cream on hand:)

There are only three ingredients here, which makes our job easy. We may need just 5 minutes to prepare this one by using readymade pulp. But the ice cream made from fresh mangoes are worth trying too, during the mango season.
Last summer I tried it using fresh mangoes and it was successful. But I would like to recommend mango pulp in can, as we cannot be sure of the quality of fresh mangoes in some places. Sour mangoes won't give the expected taste or color. So its safer to use the canned ones.

Alphonso mango varieties are the best. Here is the picture of another variety (don't know the name) of mangoes I used.

The mangoes I got from an Indian grocery store.

Those three ingredients.....

Very natural mango ice cream garnished with blueberry, mango slice and mint leaf.

When the mango season was over,  I started using canned mango pulp.

Mango ice cream before freezing. Look at the gorgeous color I got by the canned version.

Inviting cup of Home made mango ice cream served.

Ingredients:

Mango Pulp - 30 oz can (4 cups of puree)
(or) 1 kg of fresh mango
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 14 oz can (400 gm)
Whipped Topping - 8 oz  (225 gm)
Fresh Mango - cubed (optional)

Method:

Take a mixing bowl and add the mango Pulp (or freshly pureed mangoes) and Condensed milk . Mix well.
Then add the finely chopped mango pieces .(optional).
Now put the whipped topping and mix gently.
Transfer them to a freezer-safe container.
Cover and freeze for 3-4 hours.

Creamy rich mango ice cream is ready!

Serving suggestions:

Serve as dessert.
Serves nearly 15 people.
Before scooping, keep the ice cream in room temperature for 2 minutes to facilitate smooth handling.