I’ve posted fish cutlet recipe before, but this recipe is somewhat different from that. Canned tuna is something I stock up in my kitchen cupboards. I mainly stock it for two reasons… there is no hazzle of cleaning the fish and it gets cooked in a jiffy. I think there is a mixed reaction for the canned tuna. Some people like it, while others just dont. But let me tell you something, if you make this cutlets, its hard to tell whether its tuna. With all the spices and masala it almost, well I said almost.. tastes like chicken. Btw, if you cant stand the taste of tuna, you can try this recipe with chicken also. I’ve given the details in notes section of the recipe.
Other thing about the recipe is that, this is more like bakery style cutlet recipe. If you check out my previous cutlet recipes, you can see that there are no masala powders other than garam masala. But if you’ve tried the bakery cutlets, you can see that the filling is a bit yellowish in colour and you get more masala taste. Though I’m a big fan of homemade cutlets, I like bakery cutlets too, just for the different taste. After all, you know my love for bakery food ;)
This is the first time I’ve tried adding veggies to tuna cutlets. I got this idea from my aunt, Tesschechy. I happened to take some tuna cans for her. She wanted to make tuna cutlets for a family get together. But since she had to feed an army, she added some veggies and oppikalfied (adjusted) the qty for the whole bunch. I liked it very much and wanted to try it since then. Also this is one of those snacks/appetizers which you can make ahead. It sure comes handy when you are lazy to cook ;)
Here is the step by step pictures:
Canned tuna
Boiling the potatoes..
Cooking chopped onions, ginger & garlic, green chilli & curry leaves…
Adding grated carrots & chopped beans..
Adding masala powders..
Adding tuna pieces..
Mixing tuna mixture & boiled potatoes..
Cutlet mix is ready..
Shaping the cutlets..
Egg white batter & bread crumbs for dipping & rolling the shaped cutlets..
Ready to fry/freeze…
Patties in between layers of parchment paper..
Here is the recipe:
| Tuna and Vegetable Cutlets |
- Canned Tuna – 4 cans (net weight of 1 can is 100 gms)
- Carrot – 1, grated
- Chopped beans – 1/4 cup
- Potato – 2 big, cubed
- Onion – 4 medium, chopped
- Ginger & garlic – 1 – 1 1/2 tbsp, chopped
- Green chilli – 3-4, chopped
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 1/2 – 2 tsp
- Fennel powder (perumjeerakam) – 1/2 tsp
- Garam masala – 1 tsp
- Pepper powder 1/2 – 1 tsp
- Salt
- Oil
- Curry leaves
- For coating
- Egg whites – 2
- Plain flour (maida) – 2 tbsp
- Water – 1 1/2 – 2 tbsp
- Salt – a pinch
- Bread crumbs – 2-3 cups
- Drain the oil from tuna.
- Cook the potatoes with salt till it is well done. (I cooked them on stove top, you can pressure cook them also). Let it cool completely.
- Heat oil in a pan & add chopped onions, ginger & garlic, green chilli & curry leaves. Cook till the onions becomes soft & start changing the colour. Add grated carrots & chopped beans. Cook till the veggies are done. Add the masala powders, salt & mix well. Cook for 2 mins. Add tuna pieces & mix well. Cook for 5-7 mins, till everything is combined well. Let the mixture cool down completely.
- Add the cooked potatoes to the tuna mixture & mash them & combine the two. Make sure there are no lumps. Shape the mixture as per your liking (refer notes).
- Make a thick paste with flour & water & salt (a pinch). Add the beaten egg whites to this & whisk till you get a smooth batter. Dip the shaped cutlets in this batter & roll in bread crumbs. At this stage the cutlets are ready to freeze. You can store it in a ziplock bag & freeze it for 1-2 months. Keep the frozen cutlets at room temp for 30-45 mins before frying.
- Heat oil in a pan on med – high flame. When the oil is really hot (not smoking) add the cutlets & fry it till its golden in colour. Drain on a paper towel & serve hot.
Be careful while adding salt, since the canned tuna is already salty.
You can substitute tuna with chicken also and follow the same procedure. I think you can use around 400 gms of boneless chicken for the above measurements. Boil the cleaned chicken with salt and pepper till it is cooked. Mince the boiled chicken and add to the masalas.
I used cookie cutter for shaping the cutlets.
I got 29 small- medium size cutlets and 4 medium size patties with the above qty. I didnt coat the patties with egg whites and bread crumbs. Just froze it after shaping, in between layers of parchment paper. I dont defrost the patties before cooking. I shallow fry the patties.
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MariasMenu is a popular food blog written by Maria Jose with its no nonsense simple, tasty and delicious recipes – all tried and tested by readers, family and friends alike. Read more about Maria and her venture.
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