I had made a leg of lamb for dinner a few days back and, of course, there was quite a bit of leftover meat. When you prefer your lamb to be medium rare, you can only reheat it so many times before it turns into something tasting like burnt rubber. I considered my options for what to do with the leftover meat and finally came to the conclusion that some sort of Somer-ized Indian lamb meatball dish was in order.
I hadn’t done anything fancy with my leg of lamb. I prefer a flavorful meat such as lamb (when in huge meat-chunk form) to be prepared simply. I cut small slits into the meat and stuffed the slits with garlic and fresh rosemary. I then simply roasted the lamb until it was a beautiful medium rare. I think that with this simple preparation, I was able to make the meat into something completely different.
The first thing that I did was chop the lamb meat into a ground meat-like consistency. I ended up with about 1 lb. of ground lamb. My other food processor didn’t survive the move from Washington to Pennsylvania so Santa brought me a new one for Christmas. This thing is a bit nicer than my deceased Black and Decker one, but oh my goodness it chopped that lamb meat like it was making bread crumbs! And it is quiet!
Once the meat was ground, I put it into a bowl, added two eggs, 1 minced onion, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. coriander, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, and 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper. I decided against adding a filler to these meatballs like breadcrumbs in order to preserve the flavor. The meatballs were a little crumbly because of this omission, but with a little care I was able to preserve their shape.
I fried the meatballs in a dutch oven in vegetable oil much the same way that I would fry up regular meatballs. Again, take care when flipping because these meatballs are much more delicate and crumbly. And, as with regular meatballs, do not overcrowd the pan to ensure even browning of the meat without boiling it. It takes 2-3 batches to do all of the meatballs, just set them aside on a plate as they finish browning.
As for the sauce in which these meatballs were to swim, I turned to my beloved Indian cookbook and thumbed through it considering my options. My eye was caught by a Rogan Josh recipe for lamb. Lamb Rogan Josh is one of those milder Indian dishes that most Americans should be familiar with at this point. I have yet to find an Indian restaurant that doesn’t serve Lamb Rogan Josh and really, it IS a lovely dish even if it is not terribly adventurous. Taking my cues from the recipe from my culinary tome, I concocted a sauce that was thick, tangy, and spicy. It’s a very fast moving process a.k.a. stir-fry style in which the cooking is very hot and very fast so you will want to have everything already chopped and set out before you start the sauce so that it will be a smooth process.
Rogan Josh-ish Sauce
My Recipe (with the help of my cookbook)
-2 Tblsp. freshly grated ginger root
-6 to 8 cloves of garlic
-1 to 1-1/2 cups water
-2 tsp. ground cardamom (the original recipe called for cardamom pods which are hard to find in stores but easy to find online)
-2 bay leaves
-6 cloves
-10 peppercorns (of you don’t have whole peppercorns, don’t try to substitute ground pepper, just leave it out)
-1 small cinnamon stick
-1 large onion finely chopped
-1 tsp. ground coriander
-2 tsp. ground cumin
- 4 tsp. Spanish paprika (it has a great color and a nice flavor)
- Cayenne pepper (depending on how hot you want this dish, you can add between 1/8 to 1 tsp.)
-6 Tblsp. plain yogurt
Make a thick paste of the ginger and garlic by putting them into a small blender or food processor and then adding just enough water. I only needed 2 Tblsp.
Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in the same pot where you browned your lamb meatballs. When the oil is nuclear hot, add the cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon. Stir quickly and when the smell of the deep perfumes of these spices becomes strong and the bay leaves start to color, add the onions. Stir until the onions start to take on a light caramel color. Add the ginger garlic paste and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the rest of the spices and stir for another 30 seconds.
Now add the yogurt 1 Tblsp. at a time, stirring and incorporating completely before adding the next tablespoon.
Add the water and stir. When the water is hot, gently add the meatballs to the sauce. Turn the heat to low, cover, and cook for 30-45 minutes. Because you are cooking meatballs instead of meat chunks, it doesn’t need to cook quite as long.
If, at the end of this time, the liquid is still very thin, turn the heat to medium and uncover the dish and let some of the liquid evaporate. Keep an eye on it, though and don’t let it burn.
I like to serve saucy dishes like this with some rice. Obviously, the preferred rice is Basmati rice, but I didn’t have any on hand at the time, so I used the regular (and cheap) long grain rice and added some bay leaves, cloves, and cardamom to the water. You get a flavorful rice that is totally worthy of this dish.
When we have Indian dishes like this, I like to serve them in their own small bowls. The main dish in it’s own small bowl, and the rice in it’s own small bowl. I then make Naan, and we eat with our fingers. It helps with the whole experience of eating an ethnic food that is otherwise completely foreign to us. I think it’s a neat way to pay homage to the dish.
This was a great dish and a brilliant way to use some leftover lamb meat. I have to say, I’m pleased with myself. I hope you try this and like it as much as we did. Enjoy!
