Everybody in the family raves about my mom’s Kotlet. Kotlet, beef and potato patties, is amongst many things I miss about living at my parent’s. It’s fluffy and crispy and it goes well with a piece of Lavash or Sangak (if you are lucky to find this bread), tomatoes and Torshi or pickles. So I tried very hard to replicate my mom’s recipe and even though it turns out great, it never is the same.
Serving: 4 people
Ingredients
1 pound lean ground beef
4 medium to large size Yukon Gold Potatoes
1 large onion
4 eggs
2 cups bread crumbs
Cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Cook the potatoes, remove the skin and set them aside to cool down.
Use the small holes in your grater to grate the onion. This is that hardest part, if you get over this, you are pretty much good to go. Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes or use your grater for this part. Mix the ground beef, grated onions and the potatoes together with your hand. Add salt and pepper and mix well.
Mix the eggs together and add them to the potato and meat mixture. Mix well until you get a smooth but not so soft and runny mixture. At this point, you should be able to shape your patties easily without them falling apart.
Start making your patties in whatever shape you like with 0.3 inch thickness. Traditional Persian kotlet is oval shape, but making your own shape is not going to change the taste. Thickness of the patties is important since we don’t want to burn the patties or undercook them.
Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan (preferably a bit deep to reduce the oil splashing all over your kitchen).
Spread the bread crumbs on a flat surface and coat all the patties with the bread crumbs on both side. Make sure the patties are not soft and you can pick each one up without it falling apart.
Fry the patties on both sides, one side at a time. When one side is turning brown, you can flip it over. The patties absorb a lot of oil and you have to constantly make sure there is enough oil in the pan so they don’t burn.
After both sides are brown, move them out of the pan and put them on a sheet of paper towel to absorb the excessive oil.
Serve with tomatoes, some Lavash and pickles or Torshi.
Enjoy!
