Friday night fakeaway
Just because you’re stony broke, doesn’t mean you need to miss out on a takeaway treat. You just have to swap Deliveroo for a bit of DIY. These lamb jalfrezi meatballs taken from Fakeaway: Healthy Home-cooked Takeaway Meals by Chris Bavin (out 23 January, £14.99, Dk.com) are quick and economical, as they use a cheaper cut of lamb – perfect to keep you going until pay day.
Lamb jalfrezi meatballs
Ingredients: (Serves 4) ● 2tbsp vegetable oil ● 1 large onion, chopped ● 3 garlic cloves, chopped ● 2tsp cumin seeds ● 2tsp coriander seeds ● ½ tsp crushed dried chillies ● ½ tsp ground turmeric ● 2 tsp garam ● 400g can chopped tomatoes ● 1 slice bread ● 1 tbsp milk ● 500g (1lb 2 oz) minced lamb ● 3cm (1¼in) piece fresh root ginger, grated ● 1 tsp garam masala ● salt ● 2 green peppers, chopped into 2cm (¾in) pieces ● pinch of sugar (optional) ● 1tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Method:
1 Heat half the oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft – about 3 mins. Add two chopped garlic cloves and cook for 1 min. Add the cumin, coriander and crushed dried chillies. Cook for 1 min before adding the turmeric and garam masala. Cook for a further 30 seconds, then pour in the chopped tomatoes. Cook everything on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
2 Remove the crusts from the bread, tear the bread into pieces and soak in the milk. Mix together the lamb, remaining garlic, ginger, bread (give it a mush up with a fork) and garam masala with a good pinch of salt. Divide into 12 balls.
3 Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs until lightly browned. Add the peppers and fry for 1 minute.
4 Meanwhile, when the tomatoes have cooked out for 10 minutes, blend the sauce until smooth. Add 100ml water to loosen it, if needed.
5 Drain off any excess fat from the meatballs, then add them and peppers to the blended sauce. Cook everything together for 3-4 mins. Check that everything is sweet enough – add a pinch of sugar, if needed. Season with salt and top with the chopped fresh coriander. Serve with rice.