BEST! Fish Patties (Sri Lankan Fish Empanadas)

Discover How to Make Fish Patties (Sri Lankan Fish Empanadas)! Fish Patties (aka Patis) are Sri Lankan-style Fish Empanadas loaded with slightly spicy, savory filling made with curried canned fish and potatoes encased in a flaky buttery homemade crust, perfect as a tea-time snack, a party food, or picnic snack.

Fish Patties (Sri Lankan Fish Empanadas)

Bring a touch of ‘Sri Lanka’ to your kitchen! In this post, I’ll show you how to make ‘Fish Patties or Patis’ an easy way at home from scratch. Here you’ll find an easy-to-follow recipe with step-by-step pictures, helpful info plus top tips. I hope you will try the recipe and enjoy ‘Patis’ as much as I do!!

They are easy to make and freeze well for later too! Perfect as an appetizer, party food, finger food, tea-time snack, or picnic snack. Goes well with sweet & hot chili sauce, or ketchup.

What is Patties (Patis)?

These Sri Lankan-style Empanadas, locally known as ‘Patties’ or ‘Patis’ (පැටිස් ), are one of the most popular ‘Short Eats’ or savory snacks in Sri Lanka that are loaded with a slightly spicy filling made with canned mackerel and potatoes encased in a flaky buttery homemade crust. Fish patties are traditionally deep-fried. So, they come with a crispy-crunchy crust on the outside with a soft fishy inside.

What are Sri Lankan short eats?

Savory and spicy baked or deep-fried, bite-sized snacks that you can have at any time of day are commonly known as ‘short eats’ in Sri Lanka. They are very popular as a tea-time snack, party food, on road trips, and as on-the-go breakfast food, snacks, or light meals.

Short eats are a kind of fusion food due to the influence of the various other nations such as Arab, Indian, Chinese, and European that have left their mark on Sri Lankan cuisine. They are incredibly versatile. You will find bakeries, restaurants, stalls, and street carts that sell a dozen varieties of short eats (patties, rolls, vade, stuffed buns, and pastries) no matter where you travel in Sri Lanka.

Savory Snacks to Try

How Do You Make Fish Patties?

The crust is made with cold butter (or margarine), cold water, flour, baking powder (or baking soda), and egg and it comes out perfectly flakey, crispy, and golden brown! The filling made with canned mackerel is the most common one. You can also use your choice of ground meat for the filling or make it vegetarian.

Steps to Make Fish Patties

1. Make the dough

You can make the dough by hand or using a food processor and then keep it in the fridge to rest for a few hours or overnight.

2. Make the filling

While the dough is resting, you can make your filling and keep it in the fridge until use.

3. Assembly

After rolling out the dough to a thin sheet, cut it into circles about 10cm in diameter using a ring cutter or small bowl. Alternatively, divide the dough into small balls and roll them into individual circles. Place the filling on each circle and fold it in half, crimp the edges with a fork.

4. Deep-Frying

After heating enough oil, fry them in batches until both sides are golden brown.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. For the quantities of each ingredient, check out the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

For the Mixture

• Fish: The fish filling is typically made with canned mackerel or tuna. You can also use fresh fish or frozen fish fillets such as tuna or bonito. If you use fresh fish, make sure to boil and remove the bones first and then mash.
• Vegetables – In this recipe, I used boiled potatoes. You can also use other veggies like finely chopped leeks, carrots, cabbage, and boiled peas.
• Fresh Ingredients – Adding finely chopped onions, green chilies, ginger, and garlic is essential. In Sri Lanka, curry leaves and pandan leaves are commonly used for fragrance and flavor. If you cannot find them, just skip them.
• Seasoning – Chili powder, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, and salt are widely used.
• Other Ingredients – Lime is commonly used, you can use lemon juice instead.

For the Dough

• Flour: Use all-purpose flour or plain flour
• Cold Butter: You can use margarine instead and make it dairy-free.
• Salt: Add salt to taste
• Cold water: Using cold water is essential.
• Cold Egg Yolk: An egg yolk is used to bind the dough together.
• Baking Powder: Add baking for a bubbly surface on the crust. It will also make the pastry softer after frying.

Useful Tips

• To have that characteristic flaky crust, unsalted butter is rubbed into the flour until it resembles coarse crumbs or wet sand.
• The amount of water you use can be different. Always start with adding less water, and then add a little water at a time.
• Chilling your dough is essential as it’s easier to handle when it’s colder.
• Make sure to seal the patties tightly otherwise, it will split while being fried.

How to Make the Dough
In a food processor

• Add flour, butter, and salt to a food processor fitted with a blade attachment.
• Pulse a few times until the butter is the size of peas.
• Add egg and cold water to the food processor.
• Pulse just until a ball of dough forms.
• Form the dough into a flat round disk and wrap it in plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Make Ahead Options

Fried fish patties as well as shaped fish patties freeze well. Make up a big batch of Patties ahead of time and freeze them for later use.

Fried Fish Patties- You can make a big batch ahead of time and freeze them after frying for about one month or so. Briefly re-fry them after bringing them to room temperature or bake them in an oven for a short period until warm.

Shaped Fish Patties- You can shape and then freeze them to fry at a later time for about 3 months. Bring to room temperature and fry the patties just before you want to serve them.

Baking Instructions

These patties are typically deep-fried. You can bake them at 200C or 400F for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Give a quick egg wash to them before going in the oven as it helps them to get perfectly golden brown!

Serving Suggestions

You can serve them just plain without a dipping sauce, however, in Sri Lanka, it is common to eat them with chili sauce. Sweet chili sauce is always my go-to sauce but ketchup and mayonnaise are also brilliant.

Storing Suggestions

Store: If you have leftover patties, you can store them in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

Reheat: I prefer to reheat them in the oven until warmed through and crisp again on the outside rather than in the microwave, but you can do either. 

To Freeze (Unfried): Place them on a baking tray in a single layer and wrap them with plastic wrap. Freeze until frozen completely. Then, stack them in a Ziplock bag with wax paper in between each one. That way, you can take out as many as you need without them sticking together. Thaw completely in the fridge before frying.

To Freeze (Fried): Follow the instructions given above. Thaw completely in the fridge before reheating.

Fish Patties (Sri Lankan Fish Empanadas) Step-by-Step Recipe

(Check out the printable recipe card at the end of the post)

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Serving: 10 to 12

Ingredients

For the Dough
200 g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
50 g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
100ml cold water
1 yolk from 1 large egg, cold

For the Fish Filling
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
5 curry leaves, finely chopped, optional
2-inch pandan leaves, optional
2 green chiles, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp leeks, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
Salt to taste
300 g canned mackerel
300 g potato, boiled, coarsely mashed
1 tbsp lemon/lime juice

Instructions

Make the Dough

Ingredients for making the Dough.

Place the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Whisk to combine well.

Add the butter and rub it into the flour using your fingers until the flour-butter mix resembles coarse crumbs. (See the blog post for the food processor instructions)

Mix half of the ice water with the egg yolk. Whisk to combine. Add the water-yolk mix and use a fork or your fingers to distribute the liquid through the flour.

The dough should come together to make a pliable dough that’s not sticky. If it still seems too dry, dip your fingers in the ice water and then knead the dough with your wet hands. Lightly dust the surface and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until smooth.

Form a dough ball then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. You can also make the dough the day before. If it is too chilled, let the dough soften slightly at room temperature.

Make the Fish Filling

Make sure to drain before using. If you’re using cooked fresh fish, remove the bones.

Boil the potatoes and then mash them into rough chunks with a fork.

Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, curry leaves, pandan, and green chilies and saute for about 1 minute. Next, saute chopped onion and leeks until they have softened. Add the spices and mix well with the onion mixture.

Now, add the fish. Break the fish into smaller pieces and saute until dry. Then, add the mashed potatoes and mix well. Remove from the heat. Add the lemon/lime juice and mix well. Let the mix cool down. (Remove the pandan leaf if used)

Assembly

Lightly dust the surface and roll out the cool dough on a lightly floured smooth surface.

Cut into circles about 8 to 10cm in diameter using a ring cutter or small bowl. Re-roll the scraps and cut more pastry circles. You should get approximately 10 to 12 circles. Alternatively, divide into 10 to 12 small balls of dough and roll into individual circles.

Take one dough circle, and with a rolling pin, flatten it out slightly at the edges to create a slightly bigger circle. Place filling (about 2 tbsp) on the circle.

Apply some water along the edge of one-half of the circle. Carefully fold the other half over the filling toward the moistened edge and press down with your fingers to form a seal along the edge.

Use a fork to crimp the edges.

Transfer the patties to a lightly oiled plate and cover with a plastic wrap. Repeat with the rest of the wrappers.

To Fry

Heat enough oil, and deep fry the patties in batches until golden brown. Do not overcrowd the pan.

Place the fried patties on paper towels to drain the excess oil.

Serve and enjoy!

Serve immediately while they are still warm! I love serving mine with hot sweet chili sauce. Goes well with a hot cup of tea.

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If you make any of my recipes, I’d love to see pics of your creations
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