These golden homemade Mangalorean Fish Cutlets or patties are perfectly cozy when served warm as an appetizer, a side dish alongside meals, or by themselves as a late afternoon snack paired with wine or a cold beer.

Enjoyed by family and devoured by all who have tasted them!

An all-seasons favourite snack featuring canned salmon, creamy mashed potato, aromatic spices, fresh herbs and the secret ingredient – Maggi Masala Tastemaker flavouring (read on to find out where to buy these Maggi Masala sachets)!

And a lot of love every step of the way!!!

Mangalorean Fish Cutlets aka as patties, are small savoury appetisers, snacks or a side dish. They are a top dish very typical in most Mangalorean homes, be it for a family meal or celebrations.

They are made with a savoury spiced mixture of flaked canned fish or cooked fresh fish fillets, creamy mashed potatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, fresh herbs, egg and aromatic spices. They can be made into all sorts of shapes – round, square (rare), heart and oval. These patties are shallow fried for a slightly crispy exterior and soft interior.

Those who have grown in South India would admit that there are many types of cutlets | patties – fish, meat or vegetable. Back in the day, meat and vegetable cutlets were more popular than fish cutlets.

Although fish curries were a staple in most South Indian homes, fish cutlets were uncommon. In other words, most homes consumed fish either curried or fried. I guess fish was so tasty and best enjoyed in a simple way.

Here, in Australia, there is such a fabulous variety of fresh fish and canned fish. These cutlets can be made with fresh fish; however, this post features canned salmon or tuna as the hero ingredient to make fish cutlets.

I learnt to make fish cutlets in Australia, as a means of getting my son to eat some fish, using canned or fresh fish. Although they are labour intensive, it was fully worth the effort, if I could get him to eat some fish in any form.

If you do not care for canned fish either because of its fishy odour or the texture, then this is a recipe that you and your family will love because it does not lean fishy at all. In fact, with my simple twist, it tastes so delicious that you will want to keep this recipe and use it regularly!

To begin with, my mama only made beef cutlets when I was growing up. As mince was not available back in the day, she would first cook chunks of boneless beef, and it was then minced in a vintage cast-iron manual hand-crank meat grinder (it still lives in the storeroom at my mum’s house).

I remember this fondly because it was my job to grind the meat for the meat cutlets in a manual hand-crank machine, while my mama made the fresh spice mix (garam masala) to add to the mince.

To grind the meat, first, I would fasten the hand-crank machine to a table using the clamp (old time stories when life was simple). Then, I would insert a handful of the meat chunks into the feed tube and using the hand crank grind the meat. A little elbow grease and to my mum’s joy, we had great ground beef to make delicious beef cutlets.

Once the beef was ground, all that was left was to combine the ground beef with the freshly made garam masala blend (she never used potatoes those days), onion, egg, homemade breadcrumbs and oh! the home-grown mint. My mama grew mint in a kundle (a traditional old earthen pot), her being a very self-sufficient woman at all times!

Then, comes the best part – she even taught me how to roll the cutlets into a traditional oval shape! Yes! I learnt to turn a ball of beef mince into an oval shape cutlet when I was in junior school. Not many people these days know how to roll the beef cutlets into that traditional oval shape!!! How lucky I am to learn this skill from my mama!!!

This post is specially dedicated to my late mum Stella, and the heart shape is also dedicated to my mum – someone I learnt all that I know and all the food that I enjoy today. Thank you ma, for teaching me how to make cutlets from scratch and how to shape them beautifully!

Please note these hearts were shaped with a heart mould. I have shaped these cutlets into different shapes, and the video below will be useful to see these shapes!

If you’re new to making Fish Cutlets, don’t worry – I’ll walk you through every step, including the ingredients and how to make them in my Step-by-Step.

Here’s what you’ll need to bring these Mangalorean Fish Cutlets to life:

• Salmon – Tinned salmon in olive oil blend works best. Alternate: Tinned tuna in olive oil blend also works well. Drain well and flake before use. Discard the oil.

• Potatoes – Starchy potatoes such as sebago and russets help create the perfect cutlets mixture. Recipe Note: It’s important to cool the mashed potatoes completely before adding to the cutlet mixture.

• Brown onion – Traditional cutlets or patties always use onion. Finely minced brown onion adds great flavour and savoury body.

• Ginger & Garlic – Don’t hold back. Freshly minced ginger and garlic give these fish cutlets flavour and a touch of savoury heat.

• Capsicum/bell pepper (green or red) – Adds flavour and a touch of colour. I chop them finely and add them to the cutlet mixture. Leave 2 tbsp. for garnish as it really brings up the final dish aesthetically.

• Maggi Masala Spicy Tastemaker sachets (optional) – There is something magical about the combination of canned fish, potatoes, capsicum and Maggi Masala flavouring sachets tossed in together. Find at: Large supermarkets such as Coles and Woolworths in their Indian shelf. You will not find these noodles in the normal noodle shelf. These are masala sachets found inside the 560g pack of Maggi 2-Minute noodles. I use 2 sachets for a 200g can of salmon. Elevates flavour and suppresses the fishy odours. Omit, if you could not be bothered buying the noodle pack.

• Ground spices – White/black pepper and garam masala, the aromatics that neutralise fishy odours. Do not omit these spices!!

• Curry leaves + coriander + mint – Flavourings for the cutlets and they also enhance the flavour of other ingredients.

• Lemon juice/vinegar (optional) – I add just a dash, so it cuts through the richness and masks some of the metallic notes from the canning process.

• Egg – Binds all the ingredients together to give structure and hold their shape during handling and frying.

• Breadcrumbs (not panko breadcrumbs) – They help bind the mashed potatoes and other ingredients. A little coating on the exterior helps create a golden brown slightly crispy exterior. These cutlets are not meant to be super crispy and hence I do not use panko breadcrumbs. I make my own breadcrumbs at home (See Note 3 in the Recipe Card how to make breadcrumbs at home), but you may use the shop bought breadcrumbs, if you have them handy.

• Oil for shallow frying – Use only ½ – ¾ cup for shallow frying, as we just want to create a slightly crispy golden exterior. Keep the heat at medium to prevent burning.