Prawn Cutlets/ Chemmeen Cutlets
- Details
Last week, on calling my regular fish vendor to order, I was told that he’s out of station on a family emergency. Naturally my next option was to order online. When I saw the small soft shell prawns, the first thought that came into my mind were Prawn Pickle and Prawn Stir Fry. I was taken aback a bit when the order arrived. Though I prepared for small prawns, little did I expect them to be tiny. Shelling 1 kg of those would result in breaking my back. Next option? I totally scrapped the idea of making Pickle and decided of making just the stir fry. It looked like stir fry, smelled like stir fry. On tasting, I was a bit disappointed. All I could taste were the shells. I couldn’t possibly serve it to my boys. Time for some damage control. I pulsed the prawns, mixed with rest of cutlet ingredients and Voila !! Prawn Cutlets ready.
Though I had used Stir fried Prawns to make the cutlets, the recipe I’m giving is of fresh prawns. The process remains pretty much the same.

Prawn Cutlets/ Chemmeen Cutlets
Ingredients
- 250 gms Shelled Prawns
- 1 Chopped onion
- 1 big Cooked and crumbled potato
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Chilli powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric powder
- to taste Salt
- 2 tablespoons Chopped Coriander leaves
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 2 Beaten Egg whites
- 3/4 cup Breadcrumbs
- Oil for deep frying
Instructions
- Blitz the Fresh prawns/ Fried Prawns coarsely in a grinder. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a pan.
- Add the chopped onion and saute till translucent.
- Add the ginger-garlic pastes.
- Saute till raw smell goes.
- If using fresh prawns, add salt, chilli powder and turmeric powder and mix well. If using stir fried prawns, you can skip this step.
- Add the coarsely ground prawns.
- Cook till all the liquid is evaporated and the mixture is dry.
- Add the crumbled potatoes and mix well.
- Add the chopped coriander leaves.
- Add the lime juice and mix well.
- Switch off heat.
- Take a small portion of the mixture and roll into desired shapes.
- Dip in the beaten whites.
- Roll on the breadcrumbs so that they are evenly coated.
- Repeat the process with remaining mixture.
- Meanwhile, heat oil for deep frying.
- When the oil is hot, carefully drop the cutlets.
- Fry both sides till golden brown.
- Drain onto an absorbent paper.
- Serve hot.