Saturday, April 19, 2008

Royal Foodie Joust May: Spicy Lamb Drops with Yin-yang mango chutneys

Armor - check, Joust sharpened - check.

Yes sirree... It's that time of the month when foodies worldwide gather at the Leftover Queen's duelling field. Although her royal highness is off to tie the knot this month, the foodie knights are in high cooking spirits - thanks to the wicked combo bequeathed by Thursday Night Smackdown's Michelle of Mangoes, Cardamom and Brown Sugar.

So I set a date, got my mangoes, figured what i wanted to do and then checked up on the jousters one last time before i got down to it. Boy, was I blown away at the stuff they've come up with and naturally, out went my "brilliant" idea. Walked into the kitchen, stared blankly at my nice greenish and yellow mangoes on the counter for a while, dug around the cupboards and refrigerator and voila!

Spicy Lamb Drops with Yin-yang mango chutneys


Lamb Drops
Roughly 500g Minced Lamb
1 heaped tablespoon corn flour
1 egg
1 large onion chopped
3/4 tablespoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1 teaspoon mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg etc)
Salt to taste

5 curry leaves - chopped

In a bowl, mix ingredients well together. Heat oil in frying pan. Using a teaspoon, shape mixture and drop it into oil. Fry on medium heat till browned on all sides. Place on kitchen roll to drain excess oil. Tip: Don't make drops too thick so that it cooks all the way through. Alternatively, line a baking tray with wax paper and drop the mince on and bake in oven - for an oil less way.

Yin (Tangy Hot) Mango Chutney
1 small semi ripe mango cubed (flesh should be kinda firm)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons Brown sugar
1 cardamom pod - crushed between your fingers to open
1 teaspoon chilli powder
A pinch of salt
A pinch of cinnamon powder

In a saucepan, heat water till boiling. Add vinegar, chilli powder, brown sugar, spices and salt. When slightly thickened, add semi ripe mango and simmer till mango is soft and the sauce is kind of syrupy.


Yang (Sweet) Mango Chutney
1/2 cup mango pulp
1/2 cup milk
1/2 lemon - juiced
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cardamom pod - crushed between your fingers to open
A tiny pinch of salt
1 tablespoon ghee or butter

In a saucepan, add ghee/butter. When melted, add brown sugar and stir constantly slowly adding milk. Add cardamom pod, salt and mango pulp. Stir in lemon juice. Leave to simmer continuously stirring till sauce is thickened. Tip: Tastes really good with vanilla ice cream too!


p/s: If you'd like to join the Royal Joust or just to read the other yummy entries, click here.

6 comments:

Dharm said...

This looks great! Good luck on the Joust!

Anonymous said...

lovely plating! good luck!

Laura Paterson said...

Loving the yin yang idea!
Good luck with the joust - don't think I'm going to have time to enter this month :(

LisaRene said...

I love that you did a Yin and Yang chutney! You should score extra points for using a cardamom pod instead of dried cardamom as I used. The flavors all sound luscious, I would however have to substitute tofu for the lamb :)

Kavs said...

Thanks for the wishes guys. Good luck to you too!

Lisarene - You could mix up a bit of chickpeas or lentils and carrots with the tofu too!

Thistlemoon said...

These look awesome! My kind of food for sure!
Best of luck!