Sri Lankan Fish Cutlets

ByHiya, I’m Shashi March 27, 2025March 27, 2025

Crispy on the outside, with a tender and delicious filling of spiced canned tuna and potatoes, these Sri Lankan Fish Cutlets are a tasty snack or appetizer to serve at your next get-together.

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Try as hard as I can, but when December rolls around, I have a hard time keeping my brain from turning onto holiday mode! Even when I try desperately to focus at a Monday morning meeting at my 9-5 job, all that my brain seems to wanna focus on is how many vacation days do I have left?

Somehow, planning delicious party food for my daughter’s birthday (which was this past Saturday) and Christmas lunch – makes me want to spend more time with the ones I love and less time away from them.

If only I could convince my boss to let us telecommute for all of December; or, (even better) maybe add on 16 more days to the 7 we are scheduled to be off for, at the end of the year – I mean, what are 16 more days between employer and employee-right?

I think, if I were to bring them a plate of these Sri Lankan Fish Cutlets, I could ~~bribe~~ er convince them… maybe…

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I spent the first 9 years of my life in Sri Lanka. Growing up there, every Christmas, every birthday, and just about every holiday, my mom would make one of my all-time favorite holiday party recipes – Sri Lankan Fish Cutlets.

Crispy on the outside, with a tender and delicious filling of tuna, potatoes, and spices, these cutlets were a treasured commodity!

A few years ago, when my family got together for Christmas here in Atlanta, things got ugly around my mom’s stash of cutlets! Some were hiding cutlets, others were lying about how many were consumed, and (since I am a slow eater) just plain, downright rude, stealing of cutlets off MY PLATE!!! GAH – the things we forgive for family!!!

My mom has always been such a thoughtful host. If she knew there was someone who would be at our dinner table who didn’t like fish, she would substitute canned chicken or ground beef for the canned tuna.

Many years ago, when my parents took my sister and me on a family train ride from where we lived in Colombo (Sri Lanka) to picturesque Kandy, my mom would make sure to pack chicken and beef cutlets.

Sometimes, my mom would start chatting with fellow passengers and offer to share some of OUR stash of cutlets with THEM! Yes, I know, I need a lot of work on my sharing issues!

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What are the ingredients needed to make these fish cutlets?

Potato that’s boiled or baked
A can of tuna
Fresh garlic cloves
A Jalapeno
Fresh Onion
Ground Cumin
Ground paprika
Egg
Breadcrumbs (to coat)
Tabasco Green Jalapeno sauce or your favorite hot sauce
Salt and black pepper to taste
Oil of choice for frying

Instructions

If the potato is uncooked, then place it in a large pan and let it boil/cook for about 30 minutes. When it is cooked through, remove it from the pan, place it in a large bowl, and roughly mash it up with a fork. You can leave the skin or remove it if you prefer.
Drain the canned tuna well and add it to the potato.
Peel and chop the onion and garlic, and chop up the jalapeno.
Add the garlic, jalapeno, onion, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco Green Jalapeno sauce to the tuna and potato mix and combine well.
Form this mixture into balls and flatten slightly and set aside.
In another bowl, mix 1 teaspoon Tabasco Green Jalapeno sauce and the egg together in a bowl.
Then, place the breadcrumbs in another bowl or plate.
Dip the tuna potato bals into the egg mix and then into breadcrumbs. Repeat until all the tuna and potato balls are coated with breadcrumbs.
Place the oil in a large deep pan and place on stove to heat up
When oil is heated, drop cutlets into it (about 3 or 4 at a time) and fry till golden.
Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

What to serve these fish cutlets with?

These fish cutlets can be enjoyed with your favorite dipping sauce.

Or, they can be part of a more elaborate meal with yellow rice, Sri Lankan roti, mung bean curry, lentil curry, cabbage curry, chicken curry, and chutney

And, me sharing this recipe is evidence of me working on my issues. Just don’t ask me to share the finished product! 🙂

When I asked my mom for this recipe, her measurements were “a pinch of this,” “a dash of that,” and “a shake of the other.” So what you see here today is my version of her recipe.

I substituted her green chilies with Tabasco Green Jalapeño Sauce. In an odd way, Tabasco’s Green Jalapeño Sauce enhanced the flavor of the cumin and paprika I used without making these cutlets too spicy.

I used the Green Jalapeño Sauce in the filling with the tuna, potatoes, and spices, as well as in the egg dipping. My daughter took a taste and suggested we use the Green Jalapeño Sauce as a dipping sauce for the cutlets as well.

These cutlets – whether made with tuna or chicken or beef – would make a delicious (fought over) appetizer at any holiday party and/or a wonderful everyday snack.

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Now, I gotta figure out how I can convince my daughter that just because she is my hand model/taste tester, she does not get more cutlets than I do…

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