Almondegas de Peixe

Almondegas (Almon) de Peixe recipe is very Goan and has a big Portuguese influence. It has many names depending where it is made. It is popularly knows as Fish Cutlets in rest of India and Fish Patties or Fish cakes in US. Mind you, you may want to call them croquettes but in Goa it has a total different meaning and are made only of beef.

Almondegas or Almones  as we called, according to Google translation is meatballs or hamburgers. Assuming that it is alright to call them fish burgers as they are disk shape then a ball. The fish is first cooked as Guisado de Peixe by following my earlier recipe. Which is made with garlic, onions, tomatoes, vinegar and a few spices. The lazy me used the recheado masala as it has most of the ingredients.

To make these Fish cutlets you have to get your hands dirty. So be ready to put in some time but it will be worth all the effort in the end.

In this recipe I will confuse you with my cooking skills of making these fish cakes but do not worry in the end it all works out well. My intention is not to challenge or be rebellious but this is how I learned watching my family cook. There are 2 major differences.

• Firstly Indian’s use Cream of Wheat instead of Breadcrumbs for coating. My humble opinion, it absorbs less oil 🙂
  
• Second, egg wash is not very common. Usually the egg is mixed in the mixture. The dry-wet-dry breading concept is not common 🙂

So moving on, after the fish is cooked let it cool down. During this recipe I experienced that the tilapia retains liquid so you will have to squeeze out the liquid for the fish to be dry and to be shaped properly.

From start to finish this is what you will need for this recipe in ingredients

Servings: 10 Fish Cutlets 2″ rounds

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of cooked guisado tilapia
• 1 small onion diced very finely
• 1 beaten egg
• 15 sprigs of cilantro chopped finely
• 1 jalapeno diced fine
• 1/2 cup cream of wheat (semolina/ rava/ sooji)
• Salt to taste
• Oil to fry

Directions:

• Squeeze the liquid of the cooked fish, break it apart in a mixing bowl.
• Add the diced onion, cilantro,jalapeno, beaten eggs and mix it well with your hands. Check for salt.
• Divide in 10 equal portions and then shape each in a approx 2″ round patty.
• Coat the patty in cream of wheat.
• Next heat a non stick pan add about 3-4 tbsp of oil and pan-fry for about 4 minutes on each side on medium heat till the cream of wheat is browned and cooked.

Serve it as a side, an appetizer or make an easy sandwich with leafy greens and butter to enjoy the bold fish flavors.