Cheesy Chicken Cutlets

These cheesy chicken cutlets are so good to have as a nice afternoon snack. It has a fun cheese pull, making them a great crowd-pleaser.

For our recipe, we have used Minced Chicken provided to us by one of our partners, Blackgold Foods. This is very conveniently packed in a portioned packet, making it easy to defrost and use. It is also nice and moist when cooked, making it a great option for making meatballs and patties.

Serving size: 25-30

Ingredients:

To cook the chicken

• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 cup minced chicken (250g)

For the cutlets

• ½ cup thinly sliced onions
• 2/3 chopped scotch bonnet 
• 10 chopped curry leaves
• 2 tsp lime juice
• ½ tsp salt (for the onion mixture)
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• 300g boiled potatoes (2 medium-sized potatoes cut into small cubes)
• 70g mozzarella cheese (cut into 1cm cubes)
• 3 eggs
• ¼ tsp salt (for the eggs)
• 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
• ½ tsp ground black pepper (for the breadcrumbs)
• 2 ½ cup oil (for frying)

Instructions:

1. Mix together 1 tsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp chilli powder, and 1 tsp sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Then, add 1 tsp oil to a pan and heat it up on medium high heat for around 1 minute.
2. Add 1 cup minced chicken to the pan and stir fry for 2 minutes until the chicken is white in colour. Then, add in the soy sauce mixture and continue stir frying for another 2 minutes on high heat. Then, reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauce is fully incorporated into the chicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Next, to a bowl, add ½ cup thinly sliced onions, 2/3 chopped scotch bonnet, 10 chopped curry leaves, 2 tsp lime juice, ½ tsp salt, and ¼ tsp ground black pepper. Using your fingers, squash and squeeze the ingredients together until the onions become soft and releases its juices.
4. Then, add in the cooked minced chicken and mix it in well with the onion mixture. Lastly, add in 300g boiled potatoes and give it a final mix, mashing the potatoes into the mixture, until everything is evenly distributed together.
5. To make the cutlets, take around two tablespoons of the chicken mixture and flatten it on the palm of your hand. Then, place a 1cm mozzarella cheese cube on top of it and enclose it around the cheese. Roll it between your palms gently to make a smooth ball (you can rub some water or oil on your hands to prevent sticking) and place it on a clean plate. Do this until you run out of the mixture.
6. Next, crack 3 eggs in to a medium-sized bowl and beat it well together with ¼ tsp salt. Then, to another bowl, add 1 cup dried breadcrumbs along with ½ tsp ground black pepper and mix to combine. Set it aside.
7. Gently place around 5 of the cutlet balls in the eggs and carefully roll them to coat evenly. You can use a spoon for this as well.
8. Remove the cutlets from the eggs and place them in the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Gently roll them around in the breadcrumbs to coat evenly. Repeat the process of egg and breadcrumb coating one more time for each cutlet, to double coat them. This will help the cheese and filling to stay inside while frying.
9. Transfer the coated cutlets to a plate and set aside until it’s time to fry them. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until all the cutlet balls are coated.
10. Heat 2 ½ cup oil in a medium size pot for around 7 minutes. Depending on the size of the pot, you may have to add more oil as it is important that the cutlets stay at least halfway submerged in the oil when frying.
11. Start frying the cutlets in batches of around 5 each time, without over-crowding the pot. Fry each batch for around 2 minutes or until they are a deep golden-brown in colour. Carefully, turn the cutlets around after the first minute of frying so that they fry evenly on all sides. Do it very gently so that the cutlets don’t pop open.
12. Once fried, gently remove them from the oil and place them in a steel strainer or on a plate lined with paper napkins to get rid of the excess oil.
13. Continue frying the cutlets in batches until it’s all done. Make sure to keep the temperature of the oil at medium heat throughout while frying, turning down the heat if it gets too hot.