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 and it is probably in my Top 10 of favourite dishes.
The key to cooking the kotlet is to fry them slowly on a medium / low heat in enough oil for them 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 prevent the kotlet from sticking to your hands.
Also Read: Healthy Valentine’s Day Spicy Spanish Rice Recipe
Persian kotlet – lamb & potato patties Recipe
Course: MainCuisine: PersianDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes1
hour15
minutes118
kcalA popular Persian snack, lunch, sandwich filling, or road-trip picnic dish, kotlet also makes a great weeknight meal. The combination of potatoes and meat, turned into a spiced patty and fried, is easy to love. Serve them with flatbreads or rice for a more filling meal.
Ingredients
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)
Directions
- 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.
Notes
- Russet potatoes work best for this recipe. You can either use them raw or boil them in advance. Both approaches will result in delicious patties. I’ve shown the method using raw potatoes in this recipe.
