Kolkata Style Chicken Cutlet

Whenever I think about Chicken Cutlet, the picture that comes in front of my eyes ( and of course, in mind) is of a diamond shaped, golden, crispy piece of meat that tastes like heaven. Chicken Cutlet or Fowl Cutlet as it is popularly known, is one of Kolkata's famous snacks. It is a must try if you want to taste the street food that the city is famous for.

This cutlet is made of perfectly seasoned minced chicken, coated with egg and breadcrumb. It is then fried till golden brown and the result would be a crisp, full of flavour cutlet. Other than its taste, what makes the Kolkata Chicken Cutlet special is its unique diamond shape. Here I present to you my take on this iconic snack.

Chicken Cutlet

(Yields 6 cutlets)

Ingredients:

For marination

Minced Chicken - 350 grams

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tablespoon

Green Chili - 2-3 or to taste

Sugar - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri Red Chili - 1/2 tsp

Black Pepper - 1/4 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Lemon Juice - 1/2 tsp

Coriander and Parsley leaves - 2-3 springs (Optional)

For coating

Egg - 2

Breadcrumb

Oil for frying

Method:

-Put all the ingredients under marination in a large bowl and mix them well.

-Keep the chicken mince mixture in the refrigerator for at last an hour.

-Take it out from the fridge and divide it into 6 equal balls.

-Take one ball at a time and roll it a bit. Then put in breadcrumb and press to give it a diamond shape carefully. Do it with light hand, or it may break. Make all the cutlets like this.

-Take the eggs in a separate wide-mouth bowl and beat them.

-Dip the diamond-shaped cutlet in the egg mixture and roll them in breadcrumb. Repeat this process to make the rest of the cutlets.

-Heat oil in a pan and fry the cutlets in batches, depending on the size of your pan.

-Serve hot with some kasundi( spicy mustard sauce) and salad. Enjoy!

Note: Ideally cutlets are deep fried to get the even brown colour. But I prefer to shallow fry it in a non-stick pan :)