Meat cutlet aka Kerala’s meat croquettes.

Growing up in a carnivorous family, meat cutlets were a part of our menu ever since I can remember. I remember both my mother and grandma start the preparations immediately after lunch, allotting one full afternoon, chopping the onions, getting the cooked meat minced and mashing the boiled potatoes without even a small lump, and then patting each of the meat balls again and again until they get firm cutlets. And I have burnt my tongue umpteen times while trying to gobble up those crispy brown beauties as this has been my favourite snack ever since I tasted it the first time, with some “Challas” (pickled onions in vinegar or fresh lemon juice). Something which I cannot resist and something which always tells me “eat me, pleeeaaaase” till the plate is empty, leaving me with an embarrassing smile in front of my host!! I blame it on these brown beauties, none can just stop with 1 or 2, one needs atleast half a dozen, to really get the taste of the cutlets , to get a feel of satisfaction of relishing them. Perhaps cutlet is the first appetizer that comes to the mind of menu planner, if he/she is from Kerala when a dinner party is announced ………A marriage reception is organized and cutlet, vegetarian or non-vegetarian, is first in the list of starter menu………. Friends coming home on short notice, and then you see someone from the family heading towards the bakery to catch hold of some cutlet or meat puffs. …..After a late evening class, going to the bakery nearby the college to grab some cutlets and hot cup of tea or a fresh lemon juice is something most of us have done while studying...... and still, if someone asks me about my favourite snack, it is meat cutlet forever :)

Ingredients: (Approx.) (Yields around 18-20 cutlets)

• 2 ½ cup cooked and minced chicken/beef, loosely filled
• 1 large big onion finely chopped
• 1 tbsp ginger minced
• ½ tsp garlic minced
• 1 tbsp green chillies minced (around 4-5 nos)
• ½ tbsp curry leaves finely chopped
• ½ cup boiled and mashed potato (1 medium potato)
• 1 ½ tsp freshly crushed pepper powder
• ¾ - 1 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup bread crumbs or powdered rusk
• 1 tbsp oil + more for shallow frying.

Directions:

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a shallow pan, and sauté finely chopped onion and when it turns transparent, add minced ginger, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves and cook until everything is soft, in low flame, without burning any of the ingredients. Add pepper powder and mix well; add garam masala and combine everything together, adding a tinge of salt. Now add the minced meat to this mixture and stir well and thoroughly combine the minced meat with the mixture. Next add the boiled and mashed potatoes and blend well and adjust the salt and if you think, you require more spice, add one or two pinch of pepper powder and masala and mix well and turn off the stove. (Note: For the minced meat, I pressure-cook cubed chicken breast or beef with a simple marinade of salt, pepper powder, a couple of green chillies, ginger and garlic and when cooked and cool enough, mince them in a food processor. For the mashed potatoes, boil and cook the potatoes until they are soft and mash them with a fork.)
• When the mixture is cool enough to touch, divide the mixture into small elongated balls and shape them into a round or oval shapes, patting gently with a flat side of the knife, from all sides of the meat balls, until all the cracks that form in between are sealed well.
• Keep a bowl of bread crumbs and a bowl with beaten egg ready. Dip each of them in beaten egg and then roll them in bread crumbs, coating all the sides evenly. Do this one by one. Once more pat them with the flat side of the knife and remove excess bread crumbs and make them firm.
• Heat oil for frying; when the oil is hot, shallow fry the cutlets, in low-medium heat, until they turn brown as in the picture.
• To serve: Serve warm with ketchup or “challas”. To make challas, chop some fresh big onions and squeeze fresh lemon juice to it and sprinkle with some salt.

NOTE : Making a meat cutlet is a method one masters over the course of time. Even if you follow the recipe thoroughly, sometimes you will be shocked to see your cutlets falling apart or breaking while frying. This happens mainly when the meat and mashed potato is not in the right proportion or when they are not at all moist. Sometimes it could be because of the variety of potato used too; some are overly moist when mashing which causes problem while frying the cutlet. If your mixture or meat balls are too moist and not holding the shape, add some bread crumbs which will help in shaping them. Besides, there should not be any lumps in the mashed potato. Feel free to use your hands if it is necessary to break them. So, even if it is not 100% successful at the first time, this is something you can perfect, if you can figure out the basic problem. Meat cutlets can be made in advance for the party/dinner and refrigerate them or freeze them if it is not going to be used for the next 2 days and when you want to use it, thaw them in the room temperature and fry them just before serving; whether to shallow or deep fry is one’s discretion. I do not like deep fried cutlets, soaked up in oil and hence I like to shallow fry them.

Meet meat Cutlet's cousin Meat Rolls in White sauce.

Luv
Shn

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