Tuna Cutlet- Kerala style

With Christmas and Easter festivity menu, cutlet usually plays an important role. It is always on the menu and served as an appetiser with sarlas (traditional Kerala red onion salad)

Cutlets are shaped into patties with either minced fish, chicken, lamb or beef mixed with mashed potatoes and spiced with onions, green chili, ginger, garlic, salt, egg yolk and garam masala. The cutlet patties are then  fried in oil after they have been dipped in egg white and dried bread flakes.

For Christmas lunch, I made tuna cutlet. They came out well and was appreciated by everyone around. As I used tinned tuna flakes, they were relatively simple to make. I love eating cutlets but really don't enjoy making them for lunches and dinners with invited guests as it takes a lot of preparation time relative to the preparation of other dishes. But then Christmas lunch wouldn't have been a Christmas lunch without cutlets, so tuna cutlets got it's call.

Ingredients

Tuna flakes in olive oil - 1 tin around 200 grams

Potatoes  - 2 large ones

Onion - 1 medium sized

Green chili - 2 small diced 

Egg - 1 medium sized

Garam masala /Meat masala- 1/2 teaspoon

Ginger - garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

Coriander leaves -  a sprig 

Bread flakes - 100 grams

Oil - 1 tablespoon and additional for frying

Salt to taste

Drain out the oil from the tin of tuna, mash the tuna in a large bowl so that there are only tiny flakes of it . Add to it the boiled and mashed potatoes. In a frying pan add oil and sauté the sliced onions and ginger garlic paste. Add this to the bowl with the tuna and potatoes. Add to it salt, garam masala, sliced coriander leaves and egg yolk. Mix all the ingredients well and shape into cutlet patties. Freeze then for half an hour and then fry them in oil after dipping the cutlet patty in the egg white and bread flakes.

Serve them hot with sarlas (red onion salad ) or just with tomato ketchup.

Enjoy!

Notes

I use canola oil as it has zero cholesterol, any kind of oil should be fine. I also prefer Russel potato as they can be mashed very well. in fact they are excellent for mashed potatoes. More egg white may be used for frying if needed. As I like to use minimum oil, after draining the oil from the tinned tuna , I place it on kitchen roll to let the extra oil be absorbed. If I am making cutlets for just the family, I would shallow fry the cutlets.