Every time I see videos of Sri Lankan mutton rolls I WANT THEM IMMEDIATELY. They always look so good.
I’ve not found a place near me that sells them, so I decided to just learn how to make them myself.
I am so glad I did, these were so crispy, warm and spicy. I love them!
Video Tutorial
What are mutton rolls?
Mutton rolls are a Sri Lankan/Tamil snack.
You start with a spicy filling that is made with pieces of mutton, which is sheep, and also potatoes.
This filling is then wrapped. I used large spring roll wrappers, I have seen some recipes where they make their own wrappers though. But most videos and recipes just use spring roll wrappers, so this is what I did too.
These rolls are then dipped in eggs, covered in breadcrumbs and then deep fried.
Now you got a super crispy spicy snack THAT IS SO GOOD. Thank you Sri Lanka.
The filling
The first thing we are going to make is the filling.
Here are the ingredients you will need for this:
- Boneless mutton – you want to cut this into small pieces
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Garlic and ginger
- Green bird’s eye chillies – use as many of these as you want. In the recipe card below, I said 10-15, I actually used 20, but I felt like 20 might have been excessive. But anyway you can use way less, make the filling as spicy as you want.
- Seasonings
- Potatoes
The seasonings
I wanted to talk about the seasonings a bit. I used my favourite seasonings for these.
I don’t know if there are certain seasonings that are supposed to be used for mutton rolls. But the recipes I saw, everyone seemed to use different ones, so I just used what I saw fit.
These are the seasonings I used:
- Salt
- Paprika
- Curry powder
- Chilli powder
- Chilli flakes
- Turmeric
- Black pepper
- Garam masala
Use whatever seasonings you like, you don’t have to use the same ones I did.
Also even the measurements that I’ve added in the recipe card, you don’t have to follow them exactly. Make the filling to your taste.
Filling the spring roll wrappers
Once the filling has been made, you want to leave it to cool.
MAKE SURE not to fill the wrappers whiles the filling is hot. You need to leave it to cool for a bit.
To roll up…your rolls, I’ve included pictures on how to do this, in case you haven’t done it before. I’m not very good at explaining things, so I thought pictures would be more helpful.
But essentially, you add some of the filling a centimetres away from one corner of the wrapper. Then fold this corner over the filling.
Now fold the sides over it, brush the wrapper with some milk so it seals, then roll everything up tightly.
The breadcrumbs
Once you have rolled them all up, you can coat them.
I’ve seen 2 ways to do this, some people make a batter. Then they dip the rolls into the batter, then into the breadcrumbs.
And then some people just dip the rolls into some beaten eggs, then breadcrumbs.
I went with the second way, just because it seemed way easier.
So I got 3 eggs, whisked them, dipped the rolls into this and then into breadcrumbs.
Any breadcrumbs do work, but golden breadcrumbs are best for these.
Once you have coated them all, place them in your freezer for about 15 minutes before frying. This just makes it easier to fry them.
Frying the mutton rolls
Once the mutton rolls have been left to freeze for a bit, you can now fry them.
I used vegetable oil to fry these, rapeseed oil to be more specific. But any flavourless oil does work, vegetable oil is my personal favourite though.
You want to fry them in oil that is around 170c – 180c.
If you don’t have a thermometer, THAT IS OK.
The best way to test if your oil is ready is to add a few breadcrumbs into it. If they start gently bubbling, the oil is ready.
If they are not bubbling, the oil is too cold. Or if they start aggressively bubbling, the oil is too hot. Turn the heat off and let it cool down for a bit.
You want your mutton rolls to be gently bubbling throughout the whole cooking process.
Anyway, just fry them until they are crispy and golden, then leave them on a wire rack or some paper towels so that any excess oil can drain off.
Then they are finally done, eat them whiles they are warm!
Here are some other recipes I think you should also try:
Mutton Rolls
Ingredients
Makes: 12-15
- For the filling:
800g boneless mutton, cut into small pieces (or lamb could be used too)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
10-15 green bird's eye chillies, finely chopped (use less if you want a less spicy filling)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons chilli powder
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garam masala
1-2 medium potatoes (you can add as much potato as you want)
- For the outside:
Around 15 large spring roll wrappers
3 eggs
Around 200g golden breadcrumbs
- Extras:
Some milk, to seal the spring rolls
Some vegetable oil, to fry
Directions
- Making the filling:
- Place a large pot onto medium heat and add some oil into this. Let this heat up then add the chopped onions. Cook these until they have turned brown.
- Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chopped chillies, and all the seasonings EXCEPT the garam masala. Let this cook for a few minutes so that the tomatoes can soften.
- Now add the mutton. Let this cook until the meat turns brown slightly.
- Pour some water over this, just until the meat is fully covered. Add a lid on top of your pot, then leave this to cook on medium heat until the water has dissolved. This might take a while, but cooking the meat like this is going to make it soft and tender.
- Meanwhile, peel and chop your potatoes into small pieces. Boil these in some water just until fork tender. Leave these aside.
- Once the water has dissolved, mix in the garam masala. Also at this point, check if more salt is needed. Then gently mix in the boiled potatoes.
- Take this off the heat and leave to cool.
- Forming the mutton rolls:
- Once the filling has cooled, you can start forming the mutton rolls.
- Place one spring roll wrapper down onto a flat surface, with a corner of the wrapper pointing towards you.
- Add about 2 spoonfuls of the filling. Place this a few centimetres away from the corner that is facing you (I've included images above in this blog post, on how to roll the spring rolls incase you need to visualise it, or you could also watch the video).
- Roll this over once, so that the corner of the wrapper is now covering the chicken. Now fold over both sides of the wrapper.
- Brush the whole surface of the wrapper with some milk, then tightly roll up the spring roll.
- Keep repeating this until you've used all your filling.
- In a bowl or dish, add the 3 eggs and whisk these together. In a separate bowl or dish, add the breadcrumbs.
- Get a spring roll and dip it in the egg, and then the breadcrumbs. Keep repeating until you've coated all of them.
- Place these onto a tray and leave to freeze for about 15 minutes.
- Frying the mutton rolls:
- Heat up your oil until it reaches around 170c - 180c, then deep fry your mutton rolls, in batches, until they're golden brown and crispy.
- Leave them on a wire rack, or some paper towels, so that any excess oil can drain off.
- Now they are done, enjoy whiles hot!
