Bateta Champs/Katlesi

Servings : Makes 12-15 cutlets

Also known as Katlesi in Swahili. These mince stuffed potato cutlets are my go-to recipe especially in Ramadhan. Our family are all fans of potatos, and these are the easiest and yummiest combination of keema and potatoes.

Ingredients

  • 1kg white potatoes, boil and peel them, then mash them whilst still hot - Midway through mashing them, add the ingredients below
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1-2 tsp. chilli powder (you can add, reduce or omit this according to your taste)
  • juice of 2 lemons (again, add or reduce according to how much lemon/lime you can take)
  • 1 tbsp. butter
  • 1 tbsp. milk (Yes! Butter and milk help make the potatoes super yummier! :))

Extra Ingredients

  • 1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp water or milk
  • 2-3 tbsp gram flour/besan
  • keema for filling (recipe link in instructions below)
  • oil for frying

Instructions

The recipe of my keema filling is here: Keema Recipe

Once the potatoes are mashed, taste and adjust accordingly, and then take a handful of the mashed potatoes. Shape it into a flat round, about 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thickness and about the size of your palm. Place it on a plate, and take another handful of the potato, make a 2nd round like the first one.

Now take a generous spoonful of your keema filling, put it in the center of the round in your hand, then take the first round and place it on top to cover. Press using both hands, sealing it all around the edges and smooth it out as much as you can.

Set aside and proceed with the rest until all are done. You can prepare these earlier in the day, then place them on a tray and cover with cling film and refrigerate until evening so they can be nice and hot in time for iftar.

When ready to fry, beat an egg with 1 tsp. of milk and a pinch of salt. Take your tray of champs/cutlets, and sprinkle some gram flour all over them. Turn them over and sprinkle gram flour on the other side too. It doesn't have to be much, just enough for the egg to grip with the potato part!

Now heat a frying pan with some oil. These are normally shallow fried, it's best if the oil comes up to halfway the cutlets. Dip each champ in the beaten egg, turning it over to make sure it's well-covered in egg. (alternatively some people prefer to also coat them with breadcrumbs at this stage, so if you like that then you may do it too! I prefer mine plain and simple) Then carefully put it in your oil. Reduce the oil to medium and, using a spoon, scoop some hot oil from the sides of the pan and splash it gently over the top of the champ/cutlet to seal the top. Once the bottom is done, carefully turn it over and do the other side.

Remove once both sides are beautiful and golden, then blot on tissues. What I normally do is I wrap each one individually in a kitchen tissue and place them in a tin. This way each gets enough tissue to absorb any excess oil. You can discard the tissues before serving of course, so they look nice and yummy and not unsightly with oily tissue all over them haha.

Enjoy with chutney and rotis!

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