A handful of ingredients come together to make the perfect patty. Persians are very fond of their “Sandeviche Kotlet” where crusty bread is stuffed with these meat patties, pickled gherkins. tomatoes, onions and fresh herbs to make a tasty sandwich.
What is Kotlet?
Kotlet is a Persian dish made with ground lamb or beef, potato, onion, mixed with turmeric and eggs and fried in a pan. It originates from the word “cutlet” meaning a flat-shaped patty made with ground meat.
I have many wonderful memories about this perfect little Persian meat patty from my mother standing over the stove cooking batches of them for our family parties to having them at picnics. Kotlet is probably in my Top 10 of favourite dishes.
Ingredients and Tips For Cooking Kotlet
The core ingredients are simple: lamb mince, potato, onion, egg and turmeric. The recipe below adds a little garlic and smoked paprika. The resulting kotlet are equally delicious but with a little smokiness to them.
You can vary the recipe with different spices and herbs such as curry powder or dried oregano.
The key to cooking the kotlet is to fry them slowly on medium heat in enough oil to be submerged to the edge of the kotlet but not completely under the oil. Also the width of the kotlet is important, too thick – they end up undercooked. The perfect thickness for your kotlet is about 1 cm, oval in shape, approximately 5 cm in width and 10 cm in length (about the length of a palm).
While shaping them, ensure you wet your hands which helps to prevent the kotlet from sticking to your hands.
How to Serve Kotlet
Kotlet is usually served warm and as an appetiser or part of main meal.
Kotlet is popular as a sandwich filler. Serve in with warm pitta bread or a crusty baguette with Maast O’Khiar (Persian yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip), fresh crisp lettuce, pickled dill gherkins, onions, fresh tomatoes and herbs.
Other Recipe Inspiration
- Sambuseh-e Sabzijaat (Persian Vegetable Samosas)
- Sweet Potato & Leek Bolani with Coriander Chutney
- Spicy Halloumi Pasties served with Borani Esfenaj
- Cauliflower Steaks | The Mediterranean Dish
- Whole Roasted Cauliflower | The Mediterranean Dish
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Kotlet
Persian lamb pattiesServings: 20 kotletIngredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil (for frying the kotlet - you can fry with less oil and then finish off cooking in the oven if you would prefer)
- 500 g potatoes (Maris Piper is the best) (peeled, boiled and mashed / grated with the fine side of a box grater)
- 500 g minced lamb (minced leg of lamb no more than 20% fat is the best for kotlet)
- 1 onion (grated)
- 1 medium free range egg
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Take a saucepan and boil the peeled potatoes until fully cooked. Then mash or grate with the fine side of a box grater or equivalent.
- Grate the onion. Squeeze as much liquid out of the grated onion as you can, otherwise it will make the kotlet fall apart while it is cooking.
- Mix the grated onion and potato with the minced lamb. Add the egg, spices and seasoning and using your hand, mix everything until well combined. The mixture will be sticky.
- Take a large frying pan and pour enough oil in so that it comes to the edge of the kotlet when frying them. Place the pan over a medium / low heat. The frying pan will need to gently heat up for approximately 10 minutes. Cook the kotlet in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan and undercooking the patties.
- Wet your hands and take about a golf ball amount of the kotlet mixture, form into an oval and fry it in the oil on each side until it turns a dark brown colour. During the frying process prick some small holes into the middle of the kotlet using a fork to allow the hot oil to penetrate through and cook the kotlet properly.
- Serve warm or cold with bread, yoghurt (or ketchup), salad and / or fresh herbs.
