When Things Taste Better than they Look...

Yeah, not so inspiring...

I know, I know, it looks like 6 neat little poos lined up but it's actually raw Indian lamb koftas, and they taste great. I always do the ground lamb with peas when I have lamb mince floating about, as previously blogged, but wanted to try this again after a failed attempt a few years ago. Referring back to the Queen of Indian cuisine Maddhur Jaffrey, this is based on her recipe and is a doddle, if you don't mind eating something that resembles Mr Hankey. Ended up cooking this quite late as we succomed to the incredible samosas on sale at our local shop so had to wait till we were hungry again. Not having dinner was not an option.

A bit better...

Take 500g lamb mince and put in a bowl. Add to the bowl a couple of tsp of well chopped ginger, two tsp each of ground cumin and coriander, 3 ground cloves, as much cayenne pepper as you need/want, salt and pepper, two tbsp natural yogurt and mix well, hands work best. Gently shape these into sausage type shapes, or any shape you like really. Heat some oil in a large non-stick frying pan and quickly fry a bay leaf, half a cinnamon stick, 4 cloves and 4 cardomom pods. Now put in the koftas and brown gently on all sides. Don't panic if they stick, just use a flat wooden spatula to gently lift them. Next mix 3 tbsp of natural yoghurt with approx 200ml warm water and pour over the koftas. Bring it to a gentle simmer, cover, and leave to cook for about half an hour, turning the koftas a few times. When they're ready, there will be no liquid left in the pan, but the koftas will have a bit of a yoghurty coating which helps keep them moist. Serve with a simple raita (stir some garam masala, salt and chopped coriander into a small bowl of natural yoghurt), rice, and green beens tossed in fried garlic, chilli and mustard seeds.

I did chuckle when I put a few in tupperware for the freezer, a nice surprise for the Boyfriend when he finds them mwahahahaha.