Recently I wrote about a dinner I put together when some of Hubby’s relatives came by. Of the dishes I prepared, one of them was Shami Lamb Kebabs with a mint and yogurt sauce. This is a very typical Indian starter. Visually, Hubby and I both thought that they looked quite authentic. I found the yogurt sauce was perfect, but I am going to continue to tweak this recipe until I come up with, what I feel is the perfect kebab. Hubby thinks I should use green chillies instead of red, lol… have I mentioned that Mr. Persnickety doesn’t even butter his own toast? Nevertheless, he is always brimming with free advice on every subject under the sun!
The following is a Gordon Ramsay recipe taken from the Channel 4 website:
Serves 4 (2 kebabs per serving)
Ingredients
* 1 small red onion, peeled
* 1 red chilli
* Pinch of ground cloves
* ½ tsp fennel seeds
* ½ tsp pink peppercorns (or white if pink are unavailable)
* 1 tsp turmeric powder
* Medium sized bunch of mint
* Salt
* Olive oil or groundnut oil
* 350g lamb mince
* 1 egg yolk
* 200g natural yoghurt
* 1 lime, zest and juice
1. Chop the onion into quarters, deseed the chilli and place in a food processor with the ground cloves, fennel seeds, peppercorns, turmeric and half the mint. Season with a little salt and blend together.
2. Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan.
3. Put the lamb mince in a large bowl and add the blended onion and spice mix. Add the egg yolk and mix well to combine. Shape the mixture into 8 small shami kebabs (patties).
4. Fry the kebabs for 3-4 minutes on each side until nicely coloured and cooked through.
5. To make the dip, chop the remaining mint and mix into the yoghurt with the lime zest.
6. Transfer the kebabs to a serving plate and squeeze the lime juice on top. Serve with the mint and yoghurt sauce.
It is very crisp and very good recipe