Fish Cutlets

Ingredients

Filling

• 400 gcooked tuna, flaked
• or 2 tins tuna, drained
• 500 gpotatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 4garlic cloves, crushed
• 3cm ginger, grated
• 2green chillies, finely chopped
• 15curry leaves, chopped
• 1 teaspoonground turmeric
• 1 teaspoonchilli powder
• 1 teaspoonroasted curry powder
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 tablespoonsoil
• salt and black pepper

To coat

• 100 gplain flour
• 3eggs, beaten
• 250 gfine breadcrumbs

To fry

• oil, for deep frying

To serve

• coconut sambol
• or chilli sauce
• tea

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins. Boiling them whole keeps water out. Cook them until a knife slides in easily. Drain them and let them steam dry. Peel them while they are still warm.
2. Mash them thoroughly with no lumps. Let them cool completely first. Poach fresh tuna in salted water. Give it about eight full minutes. Let it cool and flake it finely. Check carefully for any bones. Drain it very thoroughly indeed. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan.
3. Add the finely chopped onion to it. Cook it for about six minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Add the chopped curry leaves as well. Cook them for a good two minutes.
4. Add the turmeric, chilli and curry powder. Fry them for one full minute more. Add the flaked fish to the pan. Stir it through all of the spices. Cook it for about five minutes. Squeeze in the juice of the lime. Season it well with salt and pepper. Take it off the heat and let it cool. Mix the cooled fish into the mashed potato. Work it through thoroughly with your hands.
5. Taste it and adjust the seasoning. It should be strongly flavoured on its own. Add more mashed potato if it is loose. Chilling it helps considerably. Cover the mixture and refrigerate it. Give it at least one full hour.
6. Roll the mixture into small balls. Aim for about the size of a golf ball. Roll them smooth between your palms. Set them out on a tray as you go. Coating them is done in three stages.
7. Set out flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Roll each ball in flour first. Press the crumbs on very firmly. Refrigerate the coated balls for thirty minutes. Pour oil into a deep pan to eight centimetres. Never fill a pan more than halfway with oil. Heat the oil to about 175C for frying. A crumb should sizzle up at once.
8. Fry them for about three minutes. Turn them over as they colour. They should be deep golden all over. Lift them out onto kitchen paper. Serving them is done properly warm. Serve coconut sambol alongside. Fry them from frozen with a minute longer.

Technique

• Short eats is the Sri Lankan English term for the savoury snacks of the tea table, laid out on trays for customers to take by hand and count up at the end.
• Burghers are Sri Lankans descended from Portuguese and Dutch settlers, and much of the tea-table repertoire comes from that tradition, with the cutlet a European form spiced locally.
• A Sri Lankan cutlet is a small round ball rather than the flat piece the English word usually means.

Substitutions

• Tinned tuna works well and is what many cooks use, drained very thoroughly.
• Any cooked white fish can replace the tuna.

Variations

• Some cooks add a little more potato to stretch the mixture further.
• Fish patties and fish rolls use much the same filling in different forms.
• Short eats also include vegetable cutlets made without fish.

History

Part of the Sri Lankan short eats tradition inherited from British and Burgher tea-table cooking.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fish Cutlets?

Fish Cutlets is a snack from Sri Lanka: breadcrumbed balls of spiced tuna and potato, deep-fried and eaten with sambol. Part of the Sri Lankan short eats tradition inherited from British and Burgher tea-table cooking.

How long does Fish Cutlets take to make?

Fish Cutlets takes 45 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 20 cutlets. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Fish Cutlets?

Yes, within limits. Tinned tuna works well and is what many cooks use, drained very thoroughly. Any cooked white fish can replace the tuna.

What is the most important thing to get right in Fish Cutlets?

Set out flour, beaten egg and breadcrumbs. Roll each ball in flour first. Press the crumbs on very firmly. Refrigerate the coated balls for thirty minutes. Pour oil into a deep pan to eight centimetres. Never fill a pan more than halfway with oil. Heat the oil to about 175C for frying. A crumb should sizzle up at once.