Veal - 1 kg (get butcher to cut into 1" cubes)
Potatoes - 600 gms
Onions - 400 gms
Green chilis - 6
Ginger - 1 1/2"
Coriander powder - 4 tbsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup chopped
Vegetable oil - 2 tbsp
Eggs - 2
Breadcrumbs - as required (I prefer a coarser blend but a fine blend works just as well)
Vegetable oil - for shallow frying the cutlets
Wash the veal well. Then soak for half an hour in a solution of water and 1/4 cup of vinegar. Rinse the meat and leave to drain in a colander. Drain well and mince meat in a food processor.
Peel and wash the potatoes. Cut into large chunks and boil till they are of mashing consistency. Drain and keep aside.
Chop the onions, green chilies and ginger finely. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a utensil, add the green chilies and ginger. Fry for a minute. Add the chopped onions.
Fry onions for 10 minutes, then add the minced meat, coriander powder and salt.
Stir so that the meat mixes well with the coriander powder, onions, ginger and green chilies. Use a wooden spoon to mash the meat, while it is cooking, so that it does not clump together into large pieces. Meat will be cooked through and look like the picture below after about fifteen minutes.
Transfer meat to bowl. When it is cool, I use kitchen scissors to cut the bigger lumps into smaller bits. Cutlets are best made with mince that is of a finer consistency. Mash the potatoes into the meat. Add the black pepper, garam masala and the chopped coriander leaves. Mix like one would a dough. Taste for salt and add more if required. Form into little circles. Mine are usually about 2" diameter.
(NOTE: This cutlet mix is great to make sandwiches in a sandwich toaster.)
When all the cutlets are prepared, you are ready to bread them.
Beat the eggs. Pour breadcrumbs into a bowl.
Use one hand for the wet ingredient, and the other for the dry ingredient. Using your right hand, dip a cutlet in the egg and drop it into the bowl of breadcrumbs. Using your left hand, turn the cutlet over in the breadcrumbs, making sure both top, bottom and sides are well coated. Transfer to a plate.
You are now ready to shallow fry the cutlets. I tend to use a small pan, filled with 1 cm of oil. Warm the oil and gently drop the cutlets into the oil. The oil should not be smoking hot. Just hot enough to make a light spluttering sound when the cutlets make contact with the oil. Fry and turn over the cutlets, ensuring that they are evenly browned on both sides.
Cutlets can be served as a snack or appetizer. Some people like to eat them with ketchup or hot sauce. It makes a nice accompaniment with rice, dal, and some veggies.
My mother used to make cutlets for special occasions. She made her own minced meat in a meat grinder, which would be a vintage piece today. I found a picture that resembles it.
It was my job to mince the meat. Using a manual grinder is tough work. Calicut beef wasn't the best. It was tough with bits of fat and sinew. The meat grinder would get stuck. We would take the machine apart, clean the auger that ground the meat, put the grinder back together, and start all over again. The clamp had to be frequently adjusted or the grinder would slip right off the table. Fun times in the Mavoor Road home. Some of my nieces and nephews must remember that grinder. I hope one of my sisters still has it.
To this day, I will not buy prepared mince meat. I buy my own cuts of meat, and mince it in my food processor.
The cutlets that Umma made were so good. Since no one took down Umma's recipes, my recipe is conjecture. I have a friend who loves my cutlets. I took a batch to her home for a pot luck last month. She saved a few and had them for dinner several days later and sent me a picture. I have used her photo and this recipe is specially posted for her.
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