Fish cutlets are a spicy and savoury bite, perfect for any time of the day.

Your party spread wouldn’t be the same without these appetizers.

With step by step photos and instructions, you can easily make these fish cutlets at home.

Even when fish cutlets lose the crispy coating after a few hours in the open, they are still the best Sri Lankan short eats you can serve. 

Workflow to make spicy fish cutlets.

As I wrote earlier there’s some prep work involved in making fish cutlets, they come together in five stages.

1. you need to make the mixture for the cutlets using potatoes, fish and a few other ingredients.
2. make them into firm balls.
3. give them a thorough soak in a beaten egg.
4. coat them with breadcrumbs.
5. fry them.

Why do fish cutlets crack while deep frying?

I have burned, cracked cutlets too many times and it didn’t take me long to find out the culprit.

Onions, if they are too big or too close to the coat that covers the cutlets, they tend to crack the fish balls open.

Maybe it’s the water in the onions being exposed to oil that causes this?

Once I started chopping the onions into smaller pieces and pushing them in while forming the balls, my fish cutlets stopped cracking.

Before starting the blog I tested it without any thought except to stop my croquettes from cracking open once they hit the oil.

I needed to be sure, so while making these fish cutlets I tested the theory by keeping some of the onions in the cutlets close to the outer surface.

If you look at the images, you’ll notice some of them are almost cracked, these are the ones with the onions close to the surface of the balls.

How to freeze fish cutlets.

If you know you need to make them ahead, then make sure to cook the potato and onion mixture.

The problem of making them ahead is again the onions in the mixture, they tend to let out the liquid and if you keep the raw cutlets made, you’ll notice they’ve become soggy after a few hours.

By cooking the onions, you are actually removing a certain amount of liquid from it.

Reader question on this:
Most cutlet recipes have the fish, onion, potato mixture cooked, why isn’t yours?

• I’ve always made the fish cutlets this way, you can certainly cook them if you want to.
• I’m just being practical and keeping things simple and easy, there are already five stages of making the cutlets to frying them, I don’t actually need a sixth one to complete these savouries.

Besides, they end up being deep-fried, do I really need to cook them twice?

Unless of course, I’m making them ahead which rarely happens because once they hit the plate, a few hungry hands and mouths tend to finish them off.

tips to making fish cutlets.

I’ve already written one reason why your fish cutlets might crack but there are a few other reasons why it happens.

• the right temperature of the oil should be a priority.
  • The oil should not be smoking, one way to check if the oil has reached the correct temperature is to add a few breadcrumbs, once they start to sizzle, start frying the cutlets. 
  • If you feel the oil temperature is too hot and it’s frying the fish cutlets too fast and burning them, reduce heat to low and then control the temperature as you need.

• Make sure you are using enough oil to submerge the fish cutlets completely.
  • When you add them to the oil, this helps to evenly distribute temperature as they fry.

• Do not use a flat-bottomed frying pan but instead a concaved bottomed(thachi or rounded-deep bottomed pan).

• Fry them in batches, yes but don’t overcrowd them.

I usually start with three and when I’ve got the handle of multitasking, I move on to four and sometimes five.

• In making fish cutlets.
  • If you are making the recipe for the first time or a large batch(over 35)then it’s best to be a bit organized.
  • As I wrote earlier, there are about 5 stages of making these cutlets so having a workflow helps in getting these cutlets served crispy just a few minutes from being made.
  • First, you’ll need to get the potatoes boiled and ready, you can even do this a day early or a few hours early.
  • Mixing all the ingredients doesn’t take time but forming the balls does, so once you’ve made the mixture, find a comfortable seat, have a large enough platter ready and start forming the balls. 
  • Once you are ready to coat the fish cutlets, keep the egg wash and breadcrumb bowls side by side with a platter at the end.

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FAQ: Sri Lankan fish cutlet recipe

• Can I use tuna cans instead of mackerel?
  • Yes, you can, as long as they are boneless and flaky you can use any type of firm, flaky canned fish.

• How to avoid sticky breadcrumb-coated fingers. 
  • To avoid sticky crumb-coated fingers, use a spoon to, add, roll, dip and scoop the cutlets into eggs.
  • Avoid using your hand that’s doing the breadcrumb coating from dipping into the egg. 
  • Once the coating is done, try to fry them within 30 minutes.

• How many cutlets can I make?
  • You can make about 30 cutlets.

More Sri Lankan savoury bites.

Deep-fried fish patties

Adukku roti(layered meat pie)

Sri Lankan fish rolls(Chinese fish roll)

Maggi noodle nuggets

RECIPE DIFFICULTY- MORE CARE NEEDED

Ingredients to make fish cutlets.

Ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

2 large potatoes equal to 250g(you can add another large potato to increase the amount of cutlets if you are under a tight budget)

1 can of Jack mackerel/large tin-425g

1 large onion chopped into very fine pieces(important)

2 green chillies chopped(the more you add the spicier it gets so adjust accordingly)

1 lime

1 tablespoon of pepper

Salt to season

To coat and crumb the cutlets

2 large eggs

2 cups of breadcrumbs

For the coating

2 cups of breadcrumbs

1 and 1/2 cup oil to fry

how to make fish cutlets

Please make sure to read the recipe instructions carefully to avoid mistakes.

Slice the onions(1 large) into smaller pieces and chop the green chillies(2) as well, set them aside.

Fill a cooking pan with water to boil the potatoes(2 large amounting to 250g, you can add an extra potato if you are on a tight budget and want to make more cutlets).

Fill the water just enough to cover them and boil until the potatoes are soft enough that a fork can go through.

30-45 minutes over medium fire.

Once the potatoes are boiled tender, let them cool and then peel off the skin.
Using a fork or your fingers crush the potatoes.

What you want is not completely mashed potatoes but with a few small lumps.

Before mixing the ingredients, keep in mind, you’ll be using green chillies, flaky fish that need to be formed into balls, you might need to wear disposable gloves if you prefer your hands not to carry the smell of fish.

Drain the canned fish(425g, substitute with tuna cans)and add it to the mashed potatoes.

Season with salt(1/2 tsp), pepper(1 tbsp), and lime and add the chopped onions and green chillies to the mix.

Combine all the ingredients well. 2-4 minutes.

Taste to check if the seasoning is to your liking, adjust by adding pepper, salt and even a little bit of red chilli powder season if necessary.

Once you are done with the mixture, it should be mixed enough that they form balls easily.

How to make the cutlet mixture to freeze.

If you are planning to freeze the cutlets, you will need to remove all the moisture from all of the ingredients in the fish cutlets.

To do this you will have to first cook the onions in a little oil until they turn translucent, and then add the cooked potato, fish and the seasoning into the pan with the onions.

Cook over low heat for at least another 5-7 minutes until you have no moisture(cook without adding additional oil).

Remove from the fire, let it cool and proceed with the recipe instructions.

Read how to freeze the cutlets with instructions under the same subheading above.

How to shape the fish cutlets.

Set a platter, large enough to hold all the fish cutlets close to the mix, to make the same size balls.

Use a standard tablespoon and form balls with the mixture. see notes about why you need to chop onions into smaller pieces.

Form and set the fish balls apart from each other.

How to coat the fish balls on bread crumbs.

Once the fish balls are done, start to coat and crumb them.

Take two wide-mouth containers, use one of the containers for the beaten eggs, and the other to hold the breadcrumbs.

Coat the fish and potato balls first in egg(see notes on how to avoid sticky breadcrumb fingers), move it so that the eggs coat the ball completely then transfer to the breadcrumb and coat the balls with it as well.

Make sure the egg and breadcrumb coating is done well.

The best way to coat the fish balls in breadcrumbs is, as you transfer the balls from the egg to the breadcrumbs, gently roll it around to get the first coating of breadcrumbs.

As you pick up the cutlet make sure you grab a handful of breadcrumbs, turn your hand so the cutlet is in your palm and gently shake your hand side to side with your fingers spread.

This way your hand is working like a strainer for the crumbs while coating the cutlets at the same time. do this at least three times for a fine but firmly packed coating for the cutlets.

Once you are done with coating all the cutlets, it’s time to fry them.

How to fry the fish cutlets.

Please keep in mind that oil temperature plays a big part in getting perfectly deep-fried cutlets(see notes about oil temperature and how to fry the cutlets without cracking them).

Set a large bowl with a paper towel to soak in extra oil and fry the cutlets in small batches until they turn golden brown. transfer to the bowl with paper towels.

For better taste serve while they are still warm.

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