Albanian-style chicken cutlets

To properly prepare Albanian-style chicken cutlets, the chicken breast meat must not be minced with a meat grinder – it should be cut by hand into small cubes. This way, the dish will turn out especially juicy, with the texture of a whole piece of meat. Adding grated cheese, an egg, and a little starch will help the cutlets maintain their shape. A special sauce based on sour cream will fill the hot products with freshness and a nice spiciness.

Yield: 8 servings (4 pieces each).

Cooking time: 40 minutes.

Cuisine: Albanian.

Caloric content: 168 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Ingredients

• chicken breast fillet – 3 pcs. (900 g);
• egg S 1 – 1 pc;
• starch – 30 g;
• hard cheese – 90 g;
• dill – large bunch;
• mayonnaise – 40 g;
• salt, black pepper – to taste.

For the sauce:

• sour cream – 180 g;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• lime or lemon juice – 0.5 tbsp;
• mustard – 20 g;
• dill – 1.5 tbsp;
• salt, black pepper – to taste.

Preparation

1. Prepare the ingredients for making Albanian-style chicken cutlets. You can use any starch (corn, potato) or substitute with flour. It’s better to slightly freeze the fillet – this makes it easier to cut into small pieces.

2. For the sauce, sour cream with any fat content will work, and part of the chopped dill will be left from preparing the filling.

3. Cut the chicken fillet lengthwise into slabs.

4. Then – into strips, after which chop them into small cubes.

5. Place the chopped pieces into a bowl.

6. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.

7. Chop the dill, then divide it into 2 parts, one of which will be used to prepare the sauce.

8. In the bowl with the meat pieces, add the cheese.

9. Also crack in the egg, add some chopped herbs – it will fill the taste with special freshness.

10. Add the starch.

11. Add the mayonnaise to the overall mixture.

12. Season the mixture with pepper and salt, but considering that the cheese and mayonnaise already have some degree of saltiness.

13. Mix the filling with a spoon until homogeneous. It is advisable to let it rest for at least 10 minutes, preferably half an hour.

14. In a frying pan, heat a small amount of vegetable oil (it must be refined). Set the heat to medium. Spoon the cutlets, shaping them into round or oval forms and slightly pressing down on top to ensure they are not too thick.

15. After 3-4 minutes, flip the cutlets to the other side, which should also be fried for 3-4 minutes.

16. Place the ready Albanian cutlets in a container, stacking them on top of each other.

17. For the sauce, add the remaining dill to the bowl with the sour cream.

18. Next – the mustard and the garlic passed through the press.

19. Acidify the mixture with lime or lemon juice.

20. Add freshly ground black pepper and salt.

21. Mix everything well, and the sauce is ready.

Although Albanian-style chicken cutlets can be eaten cold, while they are hot and releasing juice, they are especially delicious and pleasant. You can serve these cutlets with any side dish, seasoned with aromatic sauce.