In Kerala these cutlets are ideally made with minced beef. Since most of my Christmas party guests were non beef eaters, I substituted beef with lamb. It turned out pretty authentic in taste and, a hard core mallu friend of mine couldn’t tell the difference. So my take – you could use any sort of red meat in this recipe and it wont be easy to tell. What does make a difference however, is what you serve them with. To bring out the actual flavor or these savories you have to, I cannot stress this more, serve these with the Malayalee Charlas – thin slices of onions and finely diced green chilies soaked in white vinegar with a dash of salt.
Ingredients
1 lb very lean ground/minced beef or lamb
3 medium sized Yukon white potatoes, cooked pealed and mashed
1 very large or 2 medium sized onions finely chopped
5- 6 green chilies, finely diced
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp diced garlic
2 tsp Black pepper powder
1/2 tsp kerala garam masala
refined vegetable oil
1 beaten egg
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tsp whole coriander seeds, dry roasted and crushed
Salt to taste
Directions
Serve with sliced onions and minced green chilies soaked in vinegar with a dash of salt.
The easiest way to make bread crumbs, is to microwave few slices of bread for about 20 seconds, let it cool for a few minutes which will make them hard. Crush them in a mixer to get your bread crumbs.
Sophie
thanks sophie, that was a very useful tip…i hate cleaning up my toaster..
for the non-microwave option pop it the oven until browned, it gives much better flavour and also keeps in a jar(if not used by freshness police)
foody,
will try to post one for the veggies soon. for now, just replace the meat with mixed veggies of your choice (peas, carrots, spinach and the like blend well in this).
any chance you can post a similar one for veggie cutlets?!
Where can i find “Kerala Garam Masala” ?
shiva,
kerala garam masala is a combination of intense spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg etc with a main base of fennel. unfortunately i don’t know of any readymade brand that tastes as authentic as it should. you could however try the ‘Eastern’ brand if you are not up to making it yourself. but, i must say, there is nothing like fresh spices and this is really very simple to make. i’ll be posting the recipe for it in a day or two. i’ve just emailed my mother to review and approve the proportions
-J