Sasha's Kitchen: Indian Spiced Mini Lamb Burgers

The grilling season really doesn't start until Memorial Day.  And even then, we don't have an outdoor grill at the moment anyhow.  But this weekend was such a beautiful, sunny weekend that one can't help but get in the spirit a little bit early.  This recipe would be great on an outdoor grill, but also just perfect to prepare indoors on a good grill pan.

I decided that miniature food for this recipe would be much cuter than full sized portions, although the reality is that the taste would be the same.  I have made miniature frittatas and miniature key lime cheesecakes for brunch in the past, and these mini lamb burgers would work just as well for brunch as for dinner.  I decided to use my favorite mix of Indian spices for the lamb, as that is my favorite way to flavor ground lamb these days - with a mixture of curry, cumin, coriander and sumac - a new favorite spice of mine.  I've been inspired to use a lot of Indian spices in my cooking, by the chef of Tabla, Floyd Cardoz, who does so frequently in his cooking.   This recipe also incorporates Greek or Mediterranean flavors, in a yogurt based sauce, as well as the use of feta cheese.  All of these cultural influences worked out quite nicely together.

Sasha's Mini Lamb Burgers With Yogurt Sauce, Tomato and Feta (makes 10-12 small burgers)
1 lb ground lamb
1 1/2 tsp ground sumac
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp curry
1/2 tsp ground coriander
salt and pepper to taste
1 small container of lowfat Fage Greek Yogurt
1 tomato, cored and diced
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp white wine vinegar

To prepare the burgers, mix the cumin, coriander, curry, sumac, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix into the ground lamb, using your hands.  Form into small burgers, about the size of flattened golf balls.  A pound of ground lamb should make 10-12 mini burgers.  Grill the burgers on your grill pan as desired (we like ours medium-well).  Top with feta cheese.  Prepare the sauce by whisking the greek yogurt, lemon juice and vinegar with the tomatoes.  Top with the sauce.  For the buns, I cut hot dog rolls in half and toasted them in the oven.

Sasha's Kitchen: Indian Spiced Mini Lamb Burgers

Matt's Kitchen in D.C. - Rogan Josh

Rogan Josh is Kashmiri in origin although it seems to be considered one of the "classic" Indian dishes - basically, it is a type of lamb curry with flavors of cinnamon, paprika, cloves and cardamom, among other things. "Rogan" means "oil," and "josh" means heat or boiling, so the name means something like "cooked in oil at intense heat." That being said, the dish does not require a lot of oil, at least the version I made, and if you use lean lamb it does not contain a lot of fat. Another benefit is that it will make your kitchen smell delicious. Finally, and most importantly, it tastes great and it is nearly foolproof if you have the right ingredients.

This version will serve around 6-8 people, depending on the size of their appetites. The ingredients list may look a little daunting but if you have stocked up on the spices ahead of time, like I suggest, the rest of the ingredients are pretty standard.

4 lbs. of lean lamb from the leg or shoulder (*see note)
1/2 tsp. chili or cayenne powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. peanut or vegetable oil
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
6 green cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup plain yogurt or 5 tbsp. yogurt and 3 tbsp. tamarind water
5 cups hot water (homemade chicken or lamb stock would be excellent here)
1/2 tsp. garam masala

For the paste:
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
3-6 large red chiles, stemmed, seeded and chopped
10 black peppercorns, crushed (**see note)
1/2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
2 tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
2 tsp. cumin seeds, crushed
3 tsp. paprika
3 cloves, crushed (or healthy pinch of ground cloves)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water

*Note #1: when you buy the lamb, getting it boneless will make your life much easier. You want to cut it into roughly 1 inch chunks, not too small because they shrink when they cook. Also, be sure to clean the fat and silverskin off them if there is any, this will make the pieces chewy.

**Note #2: Don't leave out any spices here! - the best thing to do is stock up on whole spices, then when you need a certain amount, toast them in a pan until brown and grind them with a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder. If you stock up on various common spices, you can basically throw together Indian dishes at will with some meat and veggies

Anyway, on to the recipe. After cutting the meat into cubes, put it in a bowl and rub the chili powder and salt all over it and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onions. Cook until slightly browned, then add the cardomom and bay leaves and stir. Add the meat, turn up the heat a bit and cook for two minutes, then lower it and simmer for 3-4 minutes, covered.

To make the paste, toast all the spices and grind them with a mortar and pestle or in a coffee grinder. Add the other ingredients to a food processor along with the spice mixture and blend until smooth. I would, however, keep out the cinnamon and just add it whole to the onion mixture when you put in the paste.

Unover the pan and stir in the paste, so it is coating the meat. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, then stir in the yogurt and add the hot water. Cover the pan and simmer for around 1 hour.

Uncover the pan and turn up the heat so the sauce is reduced and thick and creamy, with not much additional liquid. This may take a little while, and when you are near done you should try a piece of lamb to make sure it is tender enough - at this point it should be, but if not, then add a little more water. Stir and add the garam masala and also salt and pepper to taste. Serve with basmati rice.

As with many stews, this becomes even better the next day, so don't hesitate to cook it the night before and put it in the fridge overnight.

Matt's Kitchen in D.C. - Rogan Josh

Sasha's Kitchen: Steamed Lamb Dumplings With Ponzu Sauce

Last night, Brad and I prepared lamb dumplings.  We were inspired my Molly D.'s delicious looking recipe on this site for pork hash dumplings, but we do not cook with pork.  Thus, I decided that I would do a dumpling experiment using lamb, and I was not disappointed.  For me, lamb goes beautifully with Indian spices, so these dumplings are less of the typical Hawaiian or Asian style dumplings, and more of an Indian-inspired fusion, based on the spices I selected to flavor the lamb.  However, I also wound up using some ancho chile powder, as well.  In the end, Brad and I were very happy with the way the dumplings were flavored, and we enjoyed our home-cooked Friday night dinner.

Sasha's Steamed Lamb Dumplings
1 lb ground lamb
1 tsp curry
2 tsp ancho chile powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
dash of pepper
2 medium sized shallots, diced
3 cloves of garlic
wonton wrappers
Ponzu sauce (for serving)
Cilantro (for garnish)

To prepare the filling, I sauteed the meat in the spice mixture with 1 T of canola oil and 2 T of water, until the meat was fully cooked.  I strained the meat when I was done to get rid of any excess Canola Oil.  Then, in a small pan, I sauteed the shallots and the garlic and mixed in with the meat filling mixture.

To prepare (fill) and steam the dumplings, I carefully followed Molly D.'s instructions from her earlier post on filling and steaming.  We used small (about 4 inch) Nasoya wonton wrappers as our dumpling wrappers, which I purchased in the Asian section of Whole Foods.  To fill the dumplings, I added about 1 to 1 and a half teaspoons of filling to the center of each dumpling wrapper.  I closed the dumpling by pinching the top into a circle shape with my hands, and used some warm water on my fingers to pinch the dumpling shut at the top.

 Next, we oiled the dumplings with Canola Oil for the steaming process.  As Molly D. points out in her post, the dumplings will stick to the steamer if they are not properly oiled.  After I made each of the dumplings, in true assembly line manner, Brad used a pastry brush to coat each dumpling in Canola Oil. As our steamer, I used the same device that we had used for my Mongolian Hot Pot, the Presto Kitchen Kettle Multi-Cooker / Steamer.  This device was an inexpensive (thirty dollar) investment, but has come in handy on numerous occasions from hot pot to steaming to deep frying.  We followed the manufacturer's instructions for steaming the dumplings, but were sure to coat the surface of the steamer with Canola Oil before adding the dumplings.  The steaming process took about five minutes.

After the dumplings were steamed, we did not pan fry them.  We simply served the steamed dumplings with Ponzu Sauce and Cilantro and enjoyed them right out of the steamer.  This was actually not all that difficult to make and was quite an enjoyable meal.  I plan to make them again in March for a dinner party.

Click here for Molly D.'s Pork Hash Dumplings and here for Eric's Sauteed Chinese Dumplings

Dumplings

Sasha's Kitchen: Steamed Lamb Dumplings With Ponzu Sauce