Kotlet (Persian Ground Meat and Potato Patties)

Why It Works Mixing the raw ground meat and beaten eggs with finely mashed (or riced) boiled potatoes binds the ingredients well without needing to add such binders as bread crumbs. Very lightly dusting the patties with flour as you form them right before pan frying not only enhances browning but also minimizes the tacky mixture sticking to your fingers.Slightly dimpling the patties prevents ballooning and helps even cooking. One of my strongest childhood memories in Iran is the uniquely luscious smell that would fill the house a few short minutes after the first few kotlet patties had been pan-fried in the kitchen. This smell would signal that it was time to rush into the kitchen to see if I could distract the cook in order to steal one of the first, still sizzling-hot kotlets as a quick snack. My wife, who did not grow up with Persian cuisine, is similarly drawn to the kitchen as soon as I start pan-frying a batch, volunteering to “test” one or two! Serious Eats /  Nader Mehravari Kotlets are pan-fried patties made from a mixture of ground meat, eggs, and finely mashed (or riced) boiled potatoes. Mine are spiced with a simple mixture of salt, black pepper, and turmeric. Though one will encounter flavoring variations depending on the region of Iran and the cook who’s making them. Kotlets are quite popular and very well known across the entire country of Iran as well as the Persian diaspora. Their popularity stems from their ease of making and their versatility: They can be served hot or cold, and they can function as a main dish, an accompaniment, or a quick small snack. In addition to being served for meals at home, they are favored for picnics and as a delicious sandwich filling.   When freshly made (or when properly reheated in a toaster oven), they have a soft crust and a delicate interior that does not feel dense or oily. Their flavor leans more towards potato, with the lamb and seasonings playing more subtle but important supporting roles. Left on the kitchen counter unattended, they will disappear quickly. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari History of Kotlets Within the Persian culinary landscape, there is a family of pan-fried patties (meat-based as well as vegetarian),  some of which have been around for a long time. Kotlets are relative newcomers to this family, as potatoes were not introduced to Iran until sometime between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In fact, the Persian word “kotlet” is a loanword based on the French word “côtelette,” which had found its way into the Persian language shortly after European travelers began to explore Iran extensively in the early 19th century. Although it’s not an ancient dish, it is one of the most popular ones. Since the meat constitutes less than 50 percent of a kotlet’s ingredients by weight, some members of the Iranian diaspora communities in North America refer to it as the “Persian healthy hamburger.” Kotlet Ingredients: A Closer Look Ground lamb or beef are the go-to meats for this dish. Although Persians love lamb, they just as often make kotlets with beef. When it comes to the coarseness of the ground meat or its fat content, kotlet is very forgiving, so you can go with your normal preferences.  Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari The most readily available potato varieties in Iran are Pashandi (brown-skin, high-starch potatoes, similar to russets) and Estānboli (yellow-skin, low-starch potatoes, shaped like fingerlings). Iranian cooks typically use the high-starch variety for their kotlets. Over the years, I have tested making kotlets with a variety of commonly available potatoes, including russet, Yukon Gold, red, and fingerling potatoes. Based on my tests, the high-starch, low-moisture content and floury texture of russet potatoes makes them ideal for producing authentic-tasting Persian kotlets that have a crunchy crust and delicate interior. Russet potatoes also cook faster and break down into a mash more easily than other types. Method and Equipment It’s best to cook and process your potatoes as though you were going to make fluffy mashed potatoes, meaning: Peel them, cut them into approximately 2-inch chucks, and wash them before boiling (to remove surface starches that can cause gumminess); rinse them after boiling (to remove surface starches once more); and mash them into a smooth mass with no chunks. Although a conventional potato masher will work, the best and quickest method is to use a ricer or a food mill, if you have one. Never use a food processor to mash your potatoes as it will release too much starch, turning your potatoes into an undesirable, stretchy mess. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari It’s important not to mix the mashed potatoes with the other ingredients until after they have already been partially mixed with each other. Otherwise, the heat of the mashed potatoes may scramble the eggs, which is not what you want. Once all the ingredients have been mixed into a uniform tacky mass, my directions ask you—simply for the sake of efficiency—to scoop out the entire mixture into 50-gram portions  before forming the first patty. Only then do you form the patties one at a time, putting each formed patty into the skillet before forming the next one. There are two reasons for this. First, if you made all the patties ahead of time, including lightly coating them with flour, the flour on the surface would be absorbed by the moist patty mixture and would fail to properly crisp up once fried. Second, every time a patty is placed in the hot skillet, the temperature of the oil drops. Forming the patties one at a time and adding them incrementally slows the rate at which they go into the pan, allowing the oil temperature to recover in between patties.  Sometimes, meat patties have the tendency to balloon during pan-frying. Slightly dimpling the patties prevents ballooning and helps even cooking. After placing each patty in the frying pan, gently press the back of a soup spoon onto the middle of the patty, making a slight dimple – not more than 1/8 inch deep.  Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari While pan-frying, carefully shaking the pan (sliding it back and forth) from time to time distributes the oil uniformly around the patties, increasing the efficiency of the conduction and convection heating that is taking place, and producing more even browning. It also reduces the chances of patties sticking to the pan. How to Serve Traditionally speaking, as a main dish, kotlets are often served hot with some crispy potatoes (French fries, shoestring fries, or oven-roasted—who doesn’t enjoy a little starch-on-starch?), along with one or more sides of sliced fresh tomatoes, salty cucumber pickles, yogurt, and flatbread. As an accompaniment, they are served hot along with plain Persian steamed white rice (chelow) or with any number of Persian rice dishes called polows, which are flavored with a wide range of vegetables, legumes, dried fruit, or nuts. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Freshly pan-fried kotlets can be kept warm, while retaining much of their gentle external crispiness, by transferring them to a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet in a 250°F (120°C) oven until serving time. Cold kotlets are popular snacks at home and are perfect for lunch boxes. Huge piles of them are taken to picnics accompanied by some sort of Persian flatbread such as lavāsh, sangak, tāftoon, barbari, or another type of flatbread such as pita. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari One of the most popular traditional Persian sandwiches is made with kotlet: A few cold kotlets are placed inside of a slitted 6- to 8-inch bread roll (e.g., Persian bolki bread, Vietnamese Banh Mi bread, hero roll, ciabatta, baton, or a piece of baguette) which has been slathered with butter and/or spicy mustard along with some combination of fresh cilantro leaves, thinly sliced onions, tomatoes, and salty cucumber pickles. You should try it, if you have any leftovers. Kotlet (Persian Ground Meat and Potato Patties) Recipe 1 1/2 pounds (680g) russet potatoes, peeled, cut in 2-inch chunks, and rinsed under cold running water  Kosher salt 4 large eggs 1 pound (450g) ground beef, ground lamb, or a combination 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper All-purpose flour, for dusting the patties Extra-virgin olive oil, neutral vegetable oil, or a combination, for pan-frying In a large saucepan, cover the potatoes with at least 1 inch cold water. Season with salt (the water should taste seasoned but not unpleasantly so). Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, approximately 15 minutes. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Drain potatoes into a colander and then briefly rinse with warm running water. Let stand in colander until the potatoes’ residual heat dries them slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Press the cooked potatoes through a ricer or a food mill into the now-empty saucepan. Alternatively, mash well with a potato masher or whisk. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari In a large mixing bowl or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs vigorously until foamy.  Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Add ground meat, ground turmeric, pepper, and 2 1/2 teaspoons (8g) salt and mix either by hand or with the stand mixer until ingredients are well combined. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Add mashed potatoes and mix well until ingredients are thoroughly combined into a uniform sticky mass. (I use my bare hand to do this, which is not only the fastest and most effective method, but also gives you a feel for the mixture that you will be making patties from.) Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Preheat oven to 250°F (120°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out 1 3/4–ounce (50g) portions (3 to 4 tablespoons) of the mixture onto the parchment paper (I use my #20 ice cream disher to do this). Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Spread flour in a pie plate or wide, shallow bowl. Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet.  In a large cast-iron skillet or stainless-steel sauté pan, heat 1/8 inch oil over medium heat until shimmering (you can also tell whether the oil is hot enough if a couple of pea-size pieces of the mixture dropped in sizzle vigorously).  Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Very lightly dredge 1 portion of meat mixture in flour, then shake off excess flour. Gently form into an oval patty approximately 1/2 inch thick, and carefully place in the skillet. Using a soup spoon, gently press a slight dimple, no more than 1/8 inch deep, into the middle of the patty.  Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Repeat dredging, forming patties, and putting in the skillet until the skillet is full but not crowded; leave about 1/2 inch space between patties. (I can comfortably fit 7 or 8 patties in my 12-inch cast iron skillet.) Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Cook until the first patty that you have placed in the skillet is deep brown on the bottom, about 8 minutes. Flip patty, then continue to flip subsequent patties as each browns sufficiently, and cook until the second side is deep brown, 4 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer cooked patties to prepared wire rack and keep warm in oven. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Continue forming and frying until all of the mixture has been used and all the patties have been pan-fried. Serious Eats / Nader Mehravari Special Equipment Large sauce pan, colander, ricer or food-mill, pie plate or wide shallow bowl, large cast-iron skillet or large stainless-steel sauté pan Notes Kotlet is an excellent reuse of leftover mashed potatoes from holiday dinners. This recipe can easily be doubled if you want extra leftovers. If making two batches, although it’s not critical, do consider replacing the oil in the skillet after the first recipe’s worth as, by then, some of the dredging flour that has come off the patties has burned. Make-Ahead and Storage The potatoes can be cooked, mashed, and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator a day or two ahead of time. I don’t recommend mixing all the ingredients ahead of time because the eggs get deeply absorbed by the mashed potatoes and ground meat, turning the mixture into a very dense mass which makes it harder to form the patties and changes the texture of the kotlets. After the cooked kotlets have been thoroughly cooled, they can be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for about a week—although they will disappear much faster than that! Kotlets also freeze very well if stored in freezer-safe plastic bags or containers. Cold cooked kotlets can easily be warmed up if zapped for a minute or two in the microwave but will not be crispy. The best way to heat up kotlets and restore their external crispiness is to warm them up in your toaster oven or full-size oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 10 minutes. If the kotlets have been frozen, there’s no need to defrost them; just increase the heating time to about 15 minutes. You can tell they are ready when you see tiny bubbles of oil forming on the surface.

Kotlet (Persian Ground Meat and Potato Patties)