Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Tuna Cutlets (and why fish is good for your EYES)

Tuna Cutlets
Here's one more reason to increase your "oily" fish intake-the omega-3-fatty acids found in fish have shown to halt and slow down the age-related macular degeneration (AMD), in lay-man's terms: AMD basically is a medical condition which is mostly seen in older adults and results in the loss of vision in the center of the visual field.
The research and findings conducted by Dr Elaine Chong at the University of Melbourne,Australia, involved 90,000 participants and showed that a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids could cut the risk of developing AMD by 38%.
Experts suggest eating oily fish like salmons,mackerel,tuna,shellfish and herring about twice a week to get the benefits of omega-3!
Sources:
Now a simple and tasty way of including fish into your diet: fish cakes or "cutlets" as they are called in India. This is my mom's method of making cutlets(thank you Angie of Angie's Recipes for reminding me of it).
Mom would first steam mackerel,then take out the bones and mix it with mashed potatoes and coat them in rava/ semolina instead of using bread crumbs. Rava absorbs much less oil and tastes equally nice. I used canned tuna,but it tastes great with just about any fish you fancy.
Ingredients:
  • Tuna: 1 can (5 oz)
  • Potatoes: 1 medium size (boiled)
  • Onions: 1/2 (finely chopped)
  • Cilantro: 2-3 tablespoons (finely chopped)
  • Giner+garlic paste: 1 teaspoon
  • Green chillies: 1-2 (finely chopped)
  • Rava/Semolina: to coat the cutlets
  • Salt: to taste
  • Oil: for shallow frying
Method:
  1. In a bowl coarsely mash the potatoes.
  2. Drain the water from the tuna and add the tuna,chopped onions,cilantro,chillies,ginger +garlic paste and salt to the mashed potatoes and mix well.
  3. Shape into cutlets and shallow fry till the cutlets turn golden brown.
  4. Serve hot with chutney or tomato sauce.

Question: How much of fish do you manage to include in your diet per week?

29 comments:

Katherine Roberts Aucoin said...

I didn't know fish was good ofr your eyes. Tuna cutlets is a wonderful idea. I just wish my family enjoyed tuna as much as I do.

Lori said...

My mom used to make tuna patties when I was younger, but they were never this flavorful. These sound great! I saw that article this week. I love the fish that fall into that category so I'm glad to have reason to enjoy them more. :)

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

Awesome... Very healthy and yummy!
I made fish cutlets too this weekend....

Balance, Joy and Delicias! said...

good info about fish and delicious recipe!
i eat fish 2-3 times a week, really love it! :)

Gita Jaishankar said...

Tuna cutlets are very new to me...they look simply delicious :)...does this recipe work with salmon too?

Christo Gonzales said...

nice - I love tuna...

Michelle @ Find Your Balance said...

Mmmm they look yummy! Funny you'd post this today bc I just decided I need to eat more fish. I started taking fish oil and tonight I ate a big ol' piece of trout fried in ghee. Delicious!

Jenn said...

Mmmm...Tuna. I love tuna or any kind of fish for that matter. =)I didn't know it could help the eyes. I gotta eat more of them then.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Thats really lookin so crispy and yumm...

Heather S-G said...

...not nearly enough. But this looks awesome!

Gina; The Candid RD said...

Great post, with some wonderful info! I have great eyes, and I really think it's due to my high intake of omega-3 and carotene (from carrots especially). Both of my parents have awful eyes, yet I've never needed glasses or anything! I should knock on wood....
I take about 1200 mg of fish oil a day, plus I eat fish 1-2 times a week. I tend to order fish a lot when I go out to dinner, since I'm not the best at preparing it myself!

chow and chatter said...

they look great love fish cakes, I make something similar and fab info love ya Rebecca

Pooja said...

Tuna cutlets look delicious and healthy! At home we used to have fish daily but after coming here its limited to twice a week!

Anonymous said...

We call fish patties or meat patties 'cutlets' in Russia/ukraine too! Love these, so yummy! We eat different kinds of seafood about twice a week.

Anonymous said...

I should really eat more fish. I'm as blind as an owl.
I used to love fish, but don't cook it so often because it's more expensive than other sources of protein.

Priyameena said...

Thx for visiting my blog..Your blog looks gorgeous..Yummy and healthy cutlets..

theUngourmet said...

These look great! I have never tried to make these but I have eaten them and I really enjoyed the flavor.

Angie's Recipes said...

Another reason to eat more tuna...and patties..
Thank you for sharing this recipe.

Astra Libris said...

Such a wonderful post - delicious and informative! Thank you so much! I was quite fascinated to read that omega 3s can slow AMD - how fantastic! We try to eat fish at least 3 times a week, but sometimes it's challanging for economic reasons, hence your recipe with canned tuna is p-e-r-f-e-c-t!! I will definitely fix it soon - I can wait to introduce it to our dinner table! :-) Thank you for the terrific recipe!

Confession Nook said...

i try to eat 3 servings of fish per week..does tuna sandwich counts? =) i make tuna spread and store it in the fridge...its a staple..how i love tuna..i put it on pasta! =)

Parita said...

Healthy cutlets, i used to have those codliver oil tablets when i was young :)

Chitra said...

Hi sweta,first time here i guess.iam a veggie..cutlet looks good.I can try without tuna..ur blog looks cute:)

Vrinda said...

My hubby lov Tuna cutlet but i don't eat tuna..looks yum and healthy cutlet..

lubnakarim06 said...

Informative post......cutlets look yum.....

Priyanka@thehealthydiary said...

I like how you always include some valuable information with the yummy recipes! The cutlet looks so good!

lisaiscooking said...

I just recently read about AMD and omega3's in Eating Well. Good to know. Your cutlets look great! My Mom used to make fish cakes with mackerel, but she used crushed crackers for a coating.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

It looks delicious! As a fish addict I always love hearing things like this! I would die if they told me fish was unhealthy. :P

Sweta (My Indian Dietitian) said...

Katherine,Jenn:now you know :)
Lori:we make a version without fish too-it's called alu tikkis(potato patties) which taste equally good with mint chutney/tomato sauce.
HCOF:great!
Coco,Pooja,Parita:good for you(and your eyes)!
Gita:salmon cutlets would taste great too :)
DB:so do we!
Michelle:doesn't everything taste BETTER with ghee ;)
Pavithra,Girlichef,Reb,Priyameena, Kim,Vrinda,KF, : thank you.
Gina:knock on wood girl(and keep the fish and carrots coming).
Natasha:wow I guess there must be a little bit of Russian influence in Indian cuisine too :)
Sophia:I guess so,or you could get your omega-3's from walnut/flax seed too!!
Angie:thanks for reminding me!
CN: Yup,I guess tuna sandwich counts too.
Astra:you're welcome :)
John:thanks for sharing the info!!
Chitra:thanks for visiting :)
Priyanka:best way to dish out research info is to serve it on a platter of goodies!
Lisa:crushed crackers-interesting!!
Lorraine: me too!!

sangeeta said...

i love fish cutlets n i make them this way only.....instead of ginger garlic paste i like bits of garlic n ginger in it so i add them finely chopped .....i love all kinds of kabab like patties.