Our menu at Kappa Chakka Kandhari, of which this recipe is a part, is a tribute to the food I grew up with and to mothers’ cooking. A mother’s recipe is a pathway to childhood memories. It is created not through well-documented notes, but through spontaneity and estimation.

This dish is the result of Portuguese/missionary influence on Kerala cuisine and is prepared mostly in Christian homes. In fact, Syrian Christian weddings offer an elaborate multi-course meal and cutlets play a major part in it.

  • Serves

    4

  • Cook Time

    45m

Ingredients

  • 2½ cups mutton
  • 1 cup boiled potato
  • ½ cup chopped onion
  • 1½ tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tbsp chopped ginger
  • 1 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp chopped green chilli
  • 1 tbsp chopped curry leaves
  • 1 tsp pepper powder
  • 1 tsp fennel powder
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ¼ tsp garam masala powder
  • 2 eggs
  • Salt to taste

Preparation

  1. Clean the meat and cut into medium size chunks. Marinate with turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt.
  2. Cook the meat in a thick-bottomed pot. Once cool, grind it roughly.
  3. Heat coconut oil in a kadhai, and add ginger, garlic, onion and curry leaves. Sauté until the onion is soft and then put in turmeric, pepper, fennel, green chilli and garam masala.
  4. Toss in the meat and mix well with masala and mashed potato. Allow to cool.
  5. Make small balls and shape them into small cutlets.
  6. Dip the cutlets into a well-beaten egg and deep fry till they are golden brown.
  7. Serve hot.
Regi Mathew

Regi Mathew

A champion of ethnic cuisine, leading Indian chef Regi Mathew is the Co-Owner and Culinary Director of Kappa Chakka Kandhari, a popular Kerala cuisine restaurant in Chennai that recently opened another space in Bengaluru. Chef Regi’s culinary career, which began with the Taj Group of Hotels, has taken him to several countries and enabled him to learn many cuisines. After 25 years in the F&B industry, he decided to closely explore the cuisine of his home state, Kerala. He spent three years travelling the state, researching its food, and working with 265 housewives and 70 toddy shops, some of whom are now part of the restaurant’s kitchen. He has won several accolades through his career, including being adjudged the Chef of the Year at the Times Food Awards, Chennai, in 2018. Kappa Chakka Kandhari, Chennai, was ranked No 23 at the Conde Nast Top Restaurant Awards 2019.

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