Sri Lankan Fish Rolls

In our Sri Lankan childhood, we cherished the enchanting treasures of “short eats” – flavor-packed delights like patties, fish rolls, veggie roties, and cutlets filled our days. These joyous pockets brimmed with veggies, fish, chicken, or meat, then sizzled on iron skillets through frying, baking, or roasting.

Fast forward to adulthood in Finland, and the void left by the absence of these beloved short eats became apparent. The remedy? Recreate them in my kitchen. The journey wasn’t instant perfection; the first attempt was a trial, but the second, oh, that was the charm.

Presenting the recipe for delicious Sri Lankan Fish Rolls – a canvas for your creativity. Add twists, blend in flavors, or omit as your taste buds command. Craft a filling that makes your mouth water, and witness the magic unfold. Let’s embark on a culinary journey transcending borders, savoring the taste of childhood finding a new home in Finland.

These fish rolls grace bakeries, roadside eateries, parties, and family gatherings. Despite the effort required to make these short eats, their popularity lies in their make-ahead convenience; you can prep them early, freeze, and keep a crowd satisfied.

Perfect as a side for brunch, high tea, or birthdays, they truly shine as on-the-go snacks and quick breakfasts. Sink your teeth into a crispy, tasty, just deep-fried fish roll, and you’ll be hooked. Join me in savoring the nostalgia of Sri Lanka, one delightful bite at a time.

Sri Lankan Fish Rolls

Marinated canned fish stir fried with wonderful flavors then wrapped in a golden pancake, which then is dipped in light batter and coated with breadcrumbs and fried to perfect golden brown. A crispy, spicy, delicious short eat for your evening tea!

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Course Short eats, Snack

Cuisine Asian, Sri Lankan

Servings 20

Equipment

• 1 Non stick flat pan
• 1 Deep dish pan
• 1 Deep pan for frying
• 1 Knife
• 2 Bowls
• 1 Tray or plate
• Few Oil papers or kitchen paper towels drain oil after frying

Ingredients

  

Fish Filling

• 365 – 450 grms Canned mackerel or tuna normally 1 big can (remove bones if any)
• 200 grms Boiled potatoes
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 2 large Red onions
• 5 – 6 leaves Curry leaves thinly cut
• 3 Green chilies
• 1 tbsp Garlic & ginger paste make sure the paste does not contain lumps (3 cloves and small piece of ginger)
• 2 tsp Chili flakes
• 2 tsp Chili powder
• 2 tsp Crushed black pepper
• 2 tspn Salt
• 1 tbsp Tomatoe sauce/ketchup
• 2 tspn Lime juice

Pancake Batter

• 300 grm All purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder use a pinch or two as measurements
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 Egg optional
• 250 – 300 ml Water

Final Prep

• Oil for frying
• Diluted left over batter
• Breadcrumbs

Instructions

 

For the Fish Filling

• Boil the potatoes, drain the canned fish and set aside meanwhile we start prepping the rest for the filling.
• Thinly slice onion, prepare the garlic and ginger paste, slice the curry leaves, chop the green chilies, heat the pan and add oil.
• When the oil is heated add the onions and fry until succulent, add curry leaves, green chilies, garlic and ginger paste and mix well finally add canned fish.
• Now lightly crumble the potatoes and add to the pan with all the spices, salt, sauce and mix well once all are combined turn off stove and add lime juice.
• Give it a taste, here you can add more salt or lime juice depending on your preference.

For Pancake

• Add flour, salt, sugar and turmeric to a bowl.
• Firstly, you need to make a pasty consistency to avoid lumps so do not add all the water at once! add little by little.
• Once the batter is a pasty consistency you can add water little by little and make the mixture into a silky batter at this point you can add the egg (optional) and mix well.
• If you want more color to the batter add few more pinches of turmeric and mix well.
• If you still have lots of lumps, you can use a sieve to strain or even use a blender to pulse it to get rid of the lumps.
• Heat the non stick pan over medium heat, slowly pour in the batter and swirl the pan to create a consistent thin pancake.
• I normally start making the roll soon as the pancake is out since the heat from the pancake helps to stick together. (check my video)

For Breading and Frying

• Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and make sure you have enough oil so the rolls do not touch the base of the pan.
• You will have left over batter, add little more water and bring the batter to a runny consistency than before. On a bowl or box add the bread crumbs and keep it ready.
• Once all the rolls are rolled up in pancake, now dip the roll in the batter then into the breadcrumbs and repeat it one more time. (check video)
• Make sure the oil is not too hot or too low, add the roll to the pan and fry until golden brown.

Freezing tips

• You can freeze before frying but make sure the rolls are arranged on a tray and not touching each other. Once it has frozen you can put them in a box or bag and leave it in freezer.
• Best method would be to quick fry them, cool and then freeze it which is very easy to serve up by heating on a air fryer or oven.
• Serve soon as fried with sauce it will be delicious!

Video

Notes

1. If your roll is cracking while frying the roll is not fully covered with oil, which means you need add more oil. (Do this after taking the roll out) then give it few minutes for the oil to heat up. The roll can also crack if the oil not heated up so simply take out the roll wait for few minutes and then fry again. 
2. Make sure your pancakes are thin so the rolls come out in a good shape, if the pancakes are too thick it would be hard to make the roll and shape would also be quite big.

Keyword Fish, mackerel rolls, rolls, short eats, spicy snack, sri lankan food, sri lankan rolls, tuna rolls