Tag Archives: Cutlet

Jackfruit Cutlets

Today’s recipe is that of a cutlet my mother made recently. She likes experimenting with her cutlet mixtures and this time, she tried jackfruit and the result was delicious.

Jackfruit Cutlets

Time taken: 40 mins

Makes 4

Jackfruit Cutlets

Ingredients:

  • Raw, unripe jackfruit – 4 or 5 pieces
  • Onion – 1 tbsp, finely chopped
  • Chillies – ½ tsp, finely chopped
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – ½ tsp
  • Ginger – ½ “, finely chopped
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, finely chopped
  • Multi-purpose flour, for light batter
  • Bread crumbs, for rolling the cutlets
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying

Method:

  1. Boil the jackfruit with salt for about 15 to 20 mins.
  2. Chop it and then coarsely grind it to get about ½ cup of the ground, cooked jackfruit. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
  3. Add the finely chopped onion, garlic, ginger, chillies as well as the pepper and fennel seeds to the mixing bowl. Mix well. Divide the seasoned jackfruit mixture into four balls.
  4. Make a light batter by mixing ½ cup of water with some multi-purpose flour.
  5. Dip the cutlet balls in the batter and then roll in the breadcrumbs, before deep-frying till the cutlets are golden brown.
  6. Serve hot with rice.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Pumpkin cutlet

For some odd reason, I posted this on Oct 28th instead of Nov 28th so I am re-posting it today. 

I guess I have some pleasant memories of Thanksgiving dinners of past years that I tend to personally take note of the day. Last year’s Thanksgiving dinner was a memorable one with three special friends at Mount Kilauea, after we watched the crater eruptions from a very safe distance. My very first Thanksgiving dinner, a little over a decade ago, was hosted by a special vegetarian couple so much so that Thanksgiving food for me has since meant an opportunity to explore creative ways of incorporating pumpkin into everything from starters to dessert. 

So, today, I will share another of my mother’s pumpkin recipes.

Pumpkin cutlet

Time taken: 30 mins

Makes 6

pumpkin cutletIngredients:

  • Pumpkin – 2 cups, ripe and boiled
  • Onion – 1, small
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Wheat flour – 3 tbsp
  • Bread crumbs
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying

Method:

  1. Remove peel of boiled pumpkin and mash it in a bowl. Add a bit of salt.
  2. Finely chop up the onion and green chilli. Add them to the bowl of mashed pumpkin.
  3. Add the pepper to the bowl. Mix well.
  4. Divide the pumpkin mixture into six portions.
  5. Mix 3 tbsp of wheat flour in some water to make a watery batter.
  6. Dip the pumpkin ball in the batter and then roll it in the bread crumbs so that the pumpkin cutlet is well coated. Repeat for each of the 6 cutlets. Set aside on plate while the oil is heated for deep-frying.
  7. Heat the oil over low heat. Deep-fry the cutlets until they are golden-brown.
  8. Transfer to a plate lined with grease absorbing paper and serve hot.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Chickpea Cutlet

Chickpea cutlet

Time taken:  1 hour + soaking time for chickpeas (if not using canned)

Makes 4

Chickpea cutletIngredients:

  • Chickpeas – ½ cup, ground
  • Onion – ½, chopped
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ½ tsp
  • Coriander leaves – few, chopped
  • Wheat flour – ¼ cup
  • Bread crumbs
  • Low fat oil, for deep-frying

Method:

  1. Cook the chickpeas (if not using canned) for at least 30 mins and then grind it.
  2. Take ½ cup of the ground chickpeas in a mixing bowl and add the chopped onions and chilli.
  3. Season with salt and pepper and toss the coriander leaves into the mix.
  4. Toss the chickpeas mixture together and then divide into 4 balls.
  5. Prepare a batter by mixing the wheat flour with a little water.
  6. Coat the 4 cutlet balls in the batter and then roll them in the bread crumbs.
  7. Deep-fry the cutlets in low-fat oil over medium heat.
  8. Transfer the cutlets to a plate lined with grease absorbing paper, before serving.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Egg cutlets

Today’s theme has been egg focused. The third recipe for today is my grandmother’s recipe for egg cutlets, as remembered by my mother.

Egg cutlet

Time taken: 15 – 20 mins

Serves 4

Egg cutletsIngredients:

  • Egg – 1 + egg white, for dipping the cutlet
  • Potato – 1
  • Onion – ¼, chopped
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped
  • Pepper – 1 tsp
  • Salt – ¼ tsp
  • Fennel powder – ½ tsp
  • Bread crumbs, for rolling the cutlets
  • Oil, for deep frying

Method:

  1. Boil the egg and potato for about 10 minutes.
  2. Mash the boiled potato in a bowl and keep aside.
  3. Finely chop the boiled egg and add to the mashed potato.
  4. Add the finely chopped onion, green chilli to the bowl and add the pepper, salt, fennel seasoning to the cutlet mix.
  5. Mix well and divide the mixture into four balls.
  6. Whisk lightly the white of an egg in a small bowl.
  7. Dip each of the cutlet balls in the egg white and roll them in bread-crumbs. Keep aside.
  8. Heat the oil for deep frying the cutlets. Drop the cutlets into the frying pan and fry them, turning them around so that they are browned on all sides.
  9. Remove the cutlets from the frying pan and place them on grease absorbing paper before you serve them with a chilli or tomato sauce.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

The recipe I would like to share today is my mother’s stuffed vegetable cutlet recipe.

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

Cooking time: 45 mins

Makes 5 – 6

Stuffed Veggie Cutlet

Ingredients:

  • Potatoes – 2, medium-sized
  • Carrot – 1, small
  • Green peas – 3 tbsp
  • Green chilli – 1
  • Onion – ½, medium-sized
  • Pepper  – 1 tsp
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Ginger – tiny piece
  • Garlic – 1 clove
  • Salt, to taste
  • Low fat oil – 1 tsp (for sauté) + for deep-frying (can be reused)
  • Wheat flour – ½ cup
  • Bread crumbs – 7 or 8 tsp

Method:

  1. Dry grind the pepper and fennel together and keep aside.
  2. Boil the potatoes and carrots separately.
  3. Peel the skin of the potatoes and mash them, adding some salt and the ground pepper and fennel mix. When they have been sufficiently mashed and mixed with the spices, make balls of mashed potato and keep aside.
  4. Mash the carrots separately and keep aside.
  5. Boil the green peas lightly, if not pre-cooked, and coarsely grind them a little so that they are half mashed.
  6. Heat a little oil in a pan. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and onion and sauté lightly.
  7. When the aroma begins to waft about, add the mashed carrot and coarsely ground green peas. Add salt and pepper and cook for a few minutes till they come together. Remove from heat.
  8. Make a batter by mixing the wheat flour with salt and adding water little by little, till reaches a pancake batter consistency.
  9. Take a potato ball and flatten it on your palm. Scoop up 1 – 1 ½ tsp of the carrot and peas mixture. Make the cutlets by covering the mixture with the edges of the potato patty like a dumpling.
  10. Dip the cutlets in the batter and roll it in the bread crumbs. Keep aside.
  11. Heat the oil for deep-frying. The oil should be enough to cover the potato balls.
  12. When the oil is ready, drop the batter coated stuffed potato balls in the pan and fry till they are browned on all sides.
  13. Serve the stuffed vegetable cutlets with tea.

Recipe source: Raji Thillainathan.

Fish cutlets

Today’s guest blogger is Krishanti Weerakoon, a staff of UN and wife of the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Canada.

FISH CUTLETS

This is a fool-proof  Sri Lankan recipe and on all of our postings overseas, this was an absolute favourite.  A versatile and excellent snack for coffee mornings, afternoon teas, lunches , cocktail parties,with pre dinner drinks or even  with dinner!! Make sure you have enough to go around as these small morsels have an explosion on your taste buds with the spices and aromatics and they are very popular. Reduce the intensity of the chillies depending on your guests’  tolerance for spice!!

Ingredients:
1 tin tuna ( 450 gram)
2 small green chillies cut finely
1 small onion diced
1/2  tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp chillie powder

I large potato peeled and boiled and mashed
I clove garlic crushed
1 tsp chopped ginger
I tsp each ground coriander and cummin

I tsp lime juice
I lb bread crumbs ( 450 gms)
2 eggs

3 tbsp flour
salt

1 pint oil for deep frying.

Method:
Mix all the ingredients except one egg and flour , breadcrumbs and oil in a bowl. Make small balls about the size of a  walnut.

Break the other egg into a bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Then  put the flour and breadcrumbs into two seperate bowls. Follow this order; first roll the cutlet in flour, then egg and lastly breadcrumbs. Treat it like an assembly line!! Use up all the fish mixture this way!

Heat oil to smoking point in a wok or fryer. Fry the cutlets until golden brown . Do not add too many at a time as it will lower the temperature of the oil and will not fry evenly. Ensure that oil stays hot when frying to ensure crispy cutlets. Serve with a nice dip either sweet chilli sauce or tomato/barbecue sauce.

Recipe source: Krishanti Weerakoon.