Cutlets (Kotleti) is the ultimate comfort food in Belarus and all neighboring countries: Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and other Eastern European countries. Kotleti are cutlet shaped patties made of ground meat, flavored with dill, onion and some other spices and fried on a skillet.

I believe each Belarussian family cooks this dish as often as every week 🙂  I remember my mom-in-law telling me a story how she cooked a pretty big pot of kotleti every week and they were gone almost unnoticeably 🙂

I also believe each family has its own kotleti recipe and knows which secret ingredients to add to make kotleti tender, juicy, aromatic, and beautifully golden brown.  I’m going to share my secrets with you today 🙂

 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 lb ground pork
•  1/2 cup bread crumbs or 2 slices of bread
• 1 medium onion
• 1 medium potato
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped  fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground  black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 3-4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2-3 Tbsp butter

 

Cooking Directions:

1. Place ground chicken and pork into a large bowl.
2. Place bread crumbs and pour about 1/2 cup of water into a small bowl. Let the mixture sit for few minutes to make the crumbs moist and absorb water. If you use bread slices, crush them a little bit, add water and let it sit until the bread is moist, then drain well and crush bread well with your hands until uniform.
3. Peel, wash and finely grate the potato and onion using the star-side of the four-sided grater box. Add to the ground meat. Adding grated potato to the meat mixture will add tenderness to the kotleti and help to form a beautiful crust.
4. Add the bread mixture to the meat, an egg, sour cream or Greek yogurt, finely chopped fresh dill,  freshly ground black pepper, garlic powder, and salt. Mix well with your hands until all is well combined.
5. Pour some vegetable oil into a large skillet and heat it up on high.
6. While the skillet is heating up, with your wet hands form oval-shaped patties about the size of your palms. Flatten them out a bit and carefully place onto the skillet. Remember – the skillet is hot, so be very careful and don’t burn yourself. You can prepare all patties first putting them on a large plate and then transfer to a skillet.
7. After 4-5 minutes, flip the patties carefully with a spatula and continue cooking on the other side for another 4-5 minutes. Then turn the heat down to low, add small pieces of butter on the top, roughly crush bay leaves and also place them into a skillet. Cover the skillet with a lid and continue cooking for about 30-40 minutes – this with make kotleti more tender and juicy.

Serve hot with any side.  Traditionally it’s served with mashed potato and fresh salad or pickled vegetables. You can also add some Russian style mustard to taste on the top. Be careful – the Russian style mustard is very strong 🙂

Enjoy!