Maacher Chop - Fish Cakes

Maacher Chop

Usually served as a first course in a Bengali meal, these fish patties can be made with any fish, such as salmon, tuna or tilapia. Mashed potatoes are most commonly used for binding, but bread crumbs work too. The shape varies from the long, cylindrical croquettes to these round patties. Filleted fish is the easiest to work with because most of the bones have been removed, but an effort should be made to remove any remaining bones by hand.

The process is quite simple. The fish needs to be poached, flaked and deboned. Russet or baking potatoes have to be boiled for 20 minutes, peeled and mashed. Aromatics made up of onions, garlic, ginger, green chilies, mint and cilantro need to be minced and stir-fried before adding the fish and further stir-frying, seasoned with salt and a pinch of pepper. This needs to be cooled to room temperature before combining with mashed potatoes and formed into patties.

The easiest way to pan-fry these is to dredge the patties in flour before frying or for a crispy coating, they can be dipped in beaten eggs and panko crumbs. Decorate the serving platter with sliced onions, tomatoes and wedges of lime, pile the patties on and serve with sweet chili sauce, ketchup, tamarind or mint chutney.

Tuna Melt Wraps

Tuna Melt Wrap with Green Onions

Tuna Melt Wrap with Dill

Packaged tuna fish now comes in a variety of flavors. I picked up a package of Tuna Creations of the Lemon Pepper variety and was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted. If tuna is not readily available where you live, substitute any flaked fish seasoned with lemon & pepper powder, mayonnaise and anything else you fancy. 

The other necessary ingredient is the bread and I chose to use a flour tortilla. The 'melt' component comes from the cheese for which a slice of pepper jack cheese gave it a spicy kick.

To toast the wrap, a small cast iron frying pan did the trick. This sandwich was a golden, crispy brown on the outside with an ooey-gooey center. 

Great for lunch and it all came together in under 5 minutes!

Ingredients (makes 2 wraps)

1 (2.6 oz.) pkg. Starkist Tuna Creations (Lemon Pepper flavor)

2 slices pepper jack cheese, cut in half

2 stalks green onions or dill, minced 

2 dabs of butter

2 small flour tortillas

Directions (for each wrap)

1. Melt a dab of butter in a small cast iron frying pan over medium heat.
2. Place a tortilla in the pan and heat one side.
3. Flip tortilla over, layer with 2 halves of a cheese slice, half the tuna and some green onions or dill.
4. Fold other half of tortilla over filling and press edges together to seal with cheese.
5. Fry both sides of wrap until golden brown.
6. Transfer to serving plate, cut in half and garnish with green onions or dill.