Lamb martabak (Martabak daging)

This martabak is one of my favourite snacks to eat. With coriander- and cumin-spiced lamb encased in pastry, it’s Indonesia’s answer to a Cornish pasty. The traditional version is made with a thin, translucent sheet of oiled homemade dough that is pan-fried in a cast-iron pan, but for easy entertaining, I wholly recommend using spring roll wrappers. Best eaten immediately and served with sambal on the side for dipping.

MAKES 30 PREP 15 mins COOK 20 mins MORE EFFORT

30 spring roll wrappers,

15cm square

1 banana or 1 beaten egg, for sealing sunflower oil, for deep-frying sambal, to serve

For the filling

450g lamb mince

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 small banana shallots or

4 Thai shallots, finely chopped 8cm piece of ginger, peeled and

finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

1/2 bunch of chives, finely chopped 1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1-2 tbsp coconut oil or sunflower oil

First, make the filling. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl, except the oil, and mix well. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a mediumhigh heat, add the filling mixture and fry, stirring, until cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, line a tray with baking parchment. Put one spring roll wrapper on a chopping board, storing the other wrappers under a damp clean tea towel so they do not dry out. Spread 1-2 tbsp of the filling over one half of the wrapper, leaving a 1cm border. Cut a thick slice of the banana, with the skin on, and rub the banana flesh over the edges of the wrapper to help seal the wrapper (but if you prefer, you can brush with beaten egg). Fold the other half of the wrapper over the filling and press all the edges down.

Put on the prepared tray and repeat until all the filling has been used up.

Fill a deep saucepan no more than a third-full with sunflower oil and heat to 160°C (if you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, check the oil is at temperature by dropping in a cube of bread – it should turn golden in 25-30 seconds). Fry the martabak in batches for 2-3 mins or until golden. Transfer to a tray lined with kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil. Cut the martabak in half so the filling is visible, then serve with the sambal on the side.

GOOD TO KNOW gluten free PER SERVING 102 kcals • fat 6g • saturates 1g • carbs 9g • sugars 0g • fibre 0g • protein 4g • salt 0.4g

Recipes adapted from Coconut & Sambal by Lara Lee (£26, Bloomsbury Publishing). Food photographs by Louise Hagger. (These recipes were supplied by the publisher and not retested by us.)