Value kebabs with extra punch,

Lamb Kofta Kebab

I'm afraid due to Google Cloud being ridiculous, I lost my lamb kebab picture, but here's a couple of wicked prawn kebabs I did last year.

I love a nice kebab, and while tonight's budget buy isn't perfect, it's better than the usual elephant leg you get in a dodgy eatery after a night out on the town. 

 These ten little lamb mince lollies, below, fed me for dinner and lunch in August.  All it needed was some sauce and some vegetables to go with it.  And I even had enough money for a budget dessert!

I've made kebabs before, although the recipe was a little different, so these aren't souvlaki style shish kebabs, which you may have seen me cook.  These are koftas, that use minced lamb.  I'll give you the recipe for them from scratch, below.

These Value versions are "minted" so the sauce of choice will be tzatsiki, a Greek cucumber, mint, garlic and yoghurt dip, with some of our harissa from last time going in with my leftover tomatoes and some artisanal Dorset Naga chilli sauce adding the firepower.  Plus some lettuce really balances with the yoghurt and the heat.


The method is simple enough.

For 4

Kebabs

1 pack of minced lamb or 10 small SupermarketValue lamb sticks
2 tsps cumin / curry powder.
Mint.  Fresh is best and easy to grow but a handful of dried will help bind the mince.
Salt and pepper.

Method

Roll the lamb mince into small cylinders and then roll in the cumin/ curry powder.  If you have a skewer, all the better, soak it in water first if it's wooden, and place the lamb under a hot grill for about 10-12 minutes.  If not, you can make these as meatballs and use a frying pan.  Or the grill.  Works for both, just make sure you get a nice crust on your lamb.

There's most of what went into the tsatziki, plus the kebas in the corner

Tsatziki

Per person:
1 tsp of jarred mint, or a large bunch of fresh mint, chopped.
2 tbsps Greek or natural yoghurt
1/4 of a cucumber, shredded and drained, with a little salt.
1 clove garlic, preferably cooked off first but half a fresh raw one is OK.
1 large pinch of dried oregano, or a big bunch of fresh if you have it.

Method

Chop everything, mix, and refrigerate.  Easy.

Chilli Sauce

Per person 
One tomato, squashed, with salt.  I used a leftover roasted tomato I had from last time.
1 or maybe two tablespoons of vinegar, a "nice" one if you have it.
1 tsp sugar.
1/2 a small chili, birdeye or similar, or one you made earlier like I did.  
Harissa, 1tsp.  I did pay out for this when doing my shakshouka a few weeks ago so a shame not to use it again to give some flowery subtle heat.
Coriander paste , 1tsp gives this a little twist as well.
And, maybe... 1/4 tsp of ginger.  
And of course, if you have a store cupboard favourite chili sauce to add heat, add some of that to taste

Ideally for a chilli sauce you want to cook it down slowly, make a lot of it in a batch and freeze it, but to each, their own today...

*munch*

Mmm...


These go well with either rice, couscous, or in a pitta, with the shredded lettuce to garnish. 

Normally with a kebab you get pickled red cabbage, but today while I remembered, I had some cheap steamable vegetables to use up, so I pickled them in a mixture of vinegar, salt, chilli, garlic and olive oil, in a clean Kilner jar.

For dessert, I had some mango and watermelon slices dressed with salted yoghurt and honey.  A little like what I posted last time...

There you are - a little healthier than the normal article and a lot more flavour for the pound than stopping off at AbraKebabera, or wherever...