South Asian Tuna Patties

Tuna fish brings back all the memories from my childhood days as we used to eat this a lot but only the canned version which was turned into bite-size balls and deep fried. Its weird how we have never had fresh tuna as its not our favorite kind of fresh food item but this canned goodness is everything. My cats love it and we love it too so its all a happy ending with tuna always.

Now South Asian flavors are very bold and you have to get each and every ingredient just right so that you don’t overpower anything. Hence its the most complicated yet simple cuisine with bang-on flavors. And there is just no better tuna patty to me than the one flavored in this way since it takes this humble ingredient to another level. The way all the spices marry together is beyond tasty.

Coming to the recipe, you guys will find out that I have added a ready-made green chilly sauce to the patties which I use only of a specific brand. It is called Ahmed’s Green Chilly sauce and its easily available here in all the hypermarkets (specially the Pakistani groceries since its a Pakistani brand). It gives the patties good heat as well as a light citrus touch. Don’t panic if you can’t find the same brand. Simply make your own by adding 4 green chilies, 1 clove of garlic and fresh lemon juice of half a lemon in a blender and blend everything to a fine paste.

Now that everything is clear, let’s head to the recipe.

Yield: 13 patties

Ingredients:

Tuna fish cans, in oil: 240 grams (2 cans, 120 grams each)
Potatoes: 5 medium
Red chilly flakes: 1 1/2 teaspoons
Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder: 2 1/2 teaspoons
Garam Masala powder: 2 heaped or 3 leveled teaspoons
Ginger paste: 2 teaspoons
Garlic paste: 4 teaspoons
Green chilly sauce, ready-made: 2 1/2 tablespoons
Fresh Coriander, chopped: 2 tablespoons
Salt: to taste
Eggs, beaten: 2
Breadcrumbs: 1 cup for the patties and 2 cups or more for coating
Oil: for frying

Method:

Start by boiling your potatoes until well done and very soft. Drain the boiling water (carefully) and shock them in a cold water bowl. After a while, remove the skins from all the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Now mash them slightly and set the bowl aside.

We are looking for a chunky mash here and not the smooth one so don’t over-mash your potatoes.

Drain half the oil from the tuna fish cans and add the fish to the mashed potatoes. To this, add all your spices along with the green chilly sauce, fresh coriander, garlic paste, ginger paste as well as 1 cup of breadcrumbs . Mix all of this well using your hands and if you think that your mixture is very soft at this point then add more breadcrumbs to it.

You can taste the mixture at this stage and adjust any of the above ingredients according to your preference.

Now in two separate deep dishes, add your breadcrumbs in one and your beaten eggs in another. Start making patties out of the tuna mix and dip each individual patty in the beaten eggs first and then coat them with the breadcrumbs. When you are done with making all of the patties in this way its time to heat your oil for frying.

Remember to make your oil super hot before you fry these patties since everything is already cooked and we are just looking for a crispy outer crust here. Also, its upto you whether to deep fry them or shallow fry them. I opted for a shallow-fried version.

Serve hot!