Minced Lamb With Coriander (Dhaniya Keema)

I love eating Indian food and we often get Indian takeaway when the cooking fairies are taking a break. Luckily for me, my husband also loves to cook Indian food. When he says that he's going to prepare a meal for the week, there's a big chance its going to come out of our well worn Indian cookbook! With splatters all over it, the pages almost open to this dish by themselves!

This recipe for minced lamb with coriander is one of our absolute favourites. It's quite easy to make and doesn't require too many different spices. Being a dry curry, it doesn't have a gravy, so we just serve it with papadums, roti or naan to scoop it up with. I like to have mine with a dollop of natural yoghurt or Dahi on top as well.

If you love the flavour of fresh coriander and have a lot to use up, then this recipe is for you. It's also great to make a day or two ahead for the flavours to infuse. Just make sure you only add the coriander when you are about to serve it, to keep that lovely fresh taste and beautiful green colour.

The recipe suggests 2 green chillies, but this time we used one red and one green to add a little bit more heat. If you prefer a more mild flavour, only use the green chilli which isn't quite so hot.

This is one meal I can never have too much of. I'd love to try an authentic version to see how it compares, but you rarely see this on the menu of your local Indian. Hint hint to any of my Indian friends :-)

I hope that you enjoy this as much as we do. It might become a regular in your household too!

Minced Lamb With Coriander

700g lamb mince

3 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup oil

300g onion, finely diced

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

3 green cardamom

2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground turmeric 

3/4 tsp ground cumin 

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

2 tomatoes, finely diced

Salt to taste

1 cup of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Boil the mince in 2 cups of water with 1 whole garlic clove and bay leaves for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Finely chop the remaining garlic.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Fry the onion over low heat for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, ginger, garlic and chilli. Cook for 2 minutes then add the mince and sauté for another 5 minutes. 

Add the turmeric, cumin and garam masala and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir every minute or so to stop the mixture sticking.

Add the tomatoes and salt to taste and cook for another few minutes.

Add 2 cups of water and cook, uncovered, until the liquid has almost evaporated.

Stir through the fresh coriander and remove from the heat.

Serve the mince in bowls with papadums, roti or naan and a dollop of natural yoghurt or Dahi, if you like.

Enjoy!

Carrot And Feta Fritters

Over the past few weeks I've seen recipes for fritters popping up all over the internet. It must be a sign!

I've always loved making zucchini fritters and corn fritters are wonderful for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Add a runny poached egg and crispy bacon for a weekend brunch or a herb yoghurt and flatbread or wraps for a light dinner. They really are so versatile.

These carrot and feta fritters were inspired by my fridge contents. I had a bag of carrots, a wedge of creamy Danish feta and a few eggs that needed using up. The coriander in the garden was starting to bolt and so I wanted to use it up too. The end result were these tasty fritters. I served them with chilli coriander yoghurt, a cos lettuce, tomato and capsicum salad and mountain bread. We made them into wraps and gobbled them up in no time. Even the kids loved them, minus the chilli. It's always great when everyone enjoys the same meal.

If you don't like chilli, or are serving this to little ones, just leave out the chilli in the yoghurt. It really is just to taste, so you can add a little or a lot, depending on how hot you like it.

If you have any leftovers, fritters are great reheated for lunch the next day.

Carrot And Feta Fritters With Chilli Coriander Yoghurt

1 large carrot, grated

1/2 cup coriander, finely chopped

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/4 cup plain flour

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup Danish feta, diced

Pepper

A drizzle of oil for frying

1/2 cup natural yoghurt

A pinch of chilli flakes (or to taste)

1 Tbs coriander, finely chopped

In a large bowl, combine the carrot, coriander, eggs, garlic, shallot, flour, milk and feta. Season to taste with pepper. There is enough salt in the feta, so you shouldn't need to add any more.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry 3-4 fritters at a time, depending on the size of your pan. About 1/4 cup mixture makes a good sized fritter.

Fry for 1-2 minutes each side or until golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side.

Remove from pan to a plate and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the yoghurt, chilli and coriander.

Serve the fritters with the yoghurt and salad and wraps, if you like.

Enjoy!

Prawns And Corn

After a busy day, and week, at work, there is nothing better on a Friday night than an easy dinner that is quick to prepare, but which is full of flavour. This meal ticked all the boxes! Prawns don't take long to cook at all and quickly boiling the corn and chargrilling it didn't take long either.

If our vegie garden was doing a bit better this summer, the tomatoes would have come from the garden. Unfortunately the hot weather has really given it a beating, so the tomato plants have been suffering. A quick stop at the local fruit and vegetable shop and I had a punnet of beautiful mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes to use. Yellow, red and purple, they looked and tasted delicious! Nothing beats the flavour of fresh produce that actually tastes how it is meant to.

This recipe was based on one in the February edition of Gourmet Traveller magazine. I used a different dressing, as I had some left over from the beautiful fig and goat's curd salad I made on Valentine's Day. I also didn't have access to shiso leaves, so used mint and coriander instead.The flavours were fresh and the corn amazingly sweet.

If you don't like prawns, then you could easily serve the salad with fish, chicken or even lamb or beef. For a vegetarian version, the sweet corn and juicy tomato would also match perfectly with fried haloumi slices. In fact, I think this might be my next version. Salty, sweet and fresh all in one dish!

Prawn, Chargrilled Corn and Tomato Salad

1 shallot, finely diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbs red wine vinegar
A pinch of caster sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

 2 corn cobs, husk removed
A drizzle of olive oil
1 punnet of mixed heirloom cherry tomatoes, halved
2 spring onions, ends trimmed and cut into thin slices
A handful of fresh mint leaves
A handful of fresh coriander leaves
12 prawns, shells removed but tails left on



To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small jar and shake to combine. Season to taste.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and add the corn cobs. Bring the water back to the boil, then turn the heat off.
Drain the corn and set aside.
Heat a chargrill pan or the BBQ over medium heat.
Drizzle corn cobs with oil and cook for 5 minutes, turning regularly, so that you get grill marks on the flesh.
Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
When cool enough to handle, stand the cobs on their end and remove the kernels with a sharp knife.
Place the corn in a bowl with the tomatoes, spring onion, mint and coriander.
Toss the salad with enough of the dressing to ensure it is well coated and season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a clean pan, heat a another drizzle of oil until hot and fry prawns for about a minute on each side, or until the flesh has turned slightly pink and opaque.
Quickly toss the cooked prawns through the salad and serve on a platter for everyone to help themselves.

And To Drink....

 I was introduced to the amazing range of Vinaceous wines at a recent Fabulous Ladies Wine Society dinner held in Melbourne. This winery from Margaret River in Western Australia makes beautiful wines with quirky labels that are a bit of fun. Mr Vinaceous, Nick Stacy, has created a range of wines featuring himself as a ringmaster of sorts, with images of ex-girlfriends as the main act. His father, a big influence in his life is on the labels of the red wines. Names such as Sirenya (pinot gris), Shakre (chardonnay), Salome (tempranillo rose), Raconteur (cabernet) and Red Right Hand (shiraz grenache tempranillo) also add mystery and intrigue.

I was most impressed with his chardonnay and tempranillo rose, but particularly liked this pinot gris for a light, fragrant white to have in the warmer weather.

The fruit from this wine came from the Adelaide Hills in South Australia and has plenty of passionfruit, apple and apricot, without being overpowering. It is clean and crisp with fine acidity and minerality.

The Vinaceous pinot gris matched perfectly with the sweetness of the prawns and the corn and the acidity of the tomatoes. While the pinot gris is a lovely food wine, it would also be gorgeous on a warm day, sitting out in the sun with some smoked salmon, fresh bread and good friends!

Using Up The Leftovers

I hate to waste bits and pieces that are in the fridge, so like to make up dishes that use what I have. I particularly like working with herbs and vegetables or fruits that can't be frozen or preserved in some way.

Following our Chinese New Year dinner, I had fresh coriander and coconut cream in the fridge that needed to be used. An Asian style dish was calling to me, but how best to use the ingredients? Being hot weather, I wanted something light and tasty, with the coconut cream making a marinade or sauce. I decided to whiz up the coriander and coconut cream with some garlic, chilli, fish sauce and lemon juice to make a dressing for a salad. Lime juice would work equally as well, but i didn't have any on hand.

When buying seafood, I tend to overlook squid as it can be rubbery if not cooked properly. As a change from fish or prawns, which I'd normally buy, I opted for a couple of squid tubes. When cleaned and scored into diagonals, little pieces of squid curl up into beautiful curls. They take only minutes to cook and are loved by kids as well as adults. Because squid doesn't have a very strong flavour of its own, you need a sauce or marinade with plenty of oomph. The coconut and coriander was perfect. If you don't like chilli, you could leave it out, but for me that bit of bite is perfect.

This sauce would also be wonderful with prawns, fish or chicken, so mix it up with whatever you feel like eating or what you have in the fridge or freezer.

To make my salad, I used green beans from the garden and some red capsicum and spring onions that were in the fridge. To bulk it up, I added some vermicelli noodles. You could really use anything that you like to make up the salad component. Baby corn, red onion, snow peas, julienned carrot....... The list is almost endless.

Coriander and Coconut Squid Salad

1 bunch of coriander, roots removed, leaves and stems washed

1/3 cup coconut cream

1 small red chilli, seeds removed, coarsely chopped

1 clove of garlic, coarsely chopped

1/4 tsp fish sauce

Juice of 1 lemon or lime (or to taste)

Place everything in a small food processor or blender and blitz until finely chopped and smooth. You should have a nice green, creamy consistency. 

Taste for flavours and correct with more lemon juice or fish sauce, if needed.

50g dried vermicelli noodles, soaked in water until soft, then drained

A handful of green beans, blanched and cut in half

1/2 a red capsicum, thinly sliced

2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 squid tubes, cleaned and dried

A good drizzle of olive oil

Salt to taste

To make the salad, put the drained noodles in a bowl with the beans, red capsicum and spring onions and toss to combine.

Drizzle with half the coriander and coconut dressing so that the noodles and vegetables are well coated.

Set aside the remaining dressing.

To prepare the squid, place a tube on a chopping board and insert a knife inside. Cut the tube into two pieces of equal size.

Score the inside with long thin cuts on each diagonal, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Using a sharp knife, cut each piece into halves and then into thirds. 

Repeat with the second squid tube.

You should end up with 24 small pieces.

Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a frying pan or wok over high heat.

Add the squid and a good pinch of salt and toss for about 2 minutes or until the squid has curled into rings and is slightly golden.

Place the dressed noodle salad on plates and then top with the squid curls.

Drizzle with a little extra dressing and extra fresh coriander, if you have it.

Enjoy!