The other day I went up to London for the day to see a couple of shows at the theatre as a very belated 18th birthday present from my parents. Whilst waiting for the evening show at the Young Vic, ‘The Inheritance’  – which for the record is incredible, it’s sold out now but if it’s put on again go and see it! – we went to the restaurant/bar ‘The Cut’ next to it and had some incredible Greek mezes. We had a baked aubergine thing, some broccoli and cauliflower falafels and, my favourite, a flatbread toped with spiced mince lamb and a tangy, spiced yoghurt. As always, this inspired me to interpret it into a dish thing.

I’ve also had this incredible samosa recipe up my sleeve from back when I used to do cookery competitions, made with sweet potato and filo pastry. I made them again the other day and they taste sooooo insanely good, but I wasn’t really happy with the duck dish I originally put them in.  So instead I decided to weave a bit of Greek-Indian fusion into this one and pair them with the lamb which works really well.

So on the plate there’s a slightly spicy sweet potato samosa with a tangy fragrant lime leaf rice, which act as the Indian aspects of the dish. By cooking the rice with fresh lime leaves in the water it takes on a refreshing, citrus flavour which works really well with the rest of the aromatic spices on the plate. The lamb is cooked in a delicious spice blend called ras el hanout, which pairs really well with the zingy mint yoghurt and sweet bursts of pomegranate. Finally, the humus acts as the sauce, giving everything a little moistness and a sharp tang to accompany the aromats, and sprinkling it with a little paprika on the plate gives a touch of heat to the whole thing. I’ve served it all up here to make it a plated meal, but you could easily serve everything in little tapas-style bowls or dishes so people can help themselves!

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 1 1/2 hours

Ingredients

For the Samosas

• 2 Small shallots
• 1 Garlic clove
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 2cm Root ginger
• 1 Spring onion
• 1/2 Small chilli (as hot or a mild a variety as you like)
• 2 Small sweet potatoes, chopped into small chunks
• 50g Frozen peas
• 1 Sheet of filo pastry
• 60g Unsalted butter

To Serve

• 200g Jasmin rice
• 2 Fresh lime leaves
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 400g Minced Lamb
• 2 tbsp Ras el hanout (a spice)
• 2 Chapatis (or other type of flat bread)
• 100g Greek yoghurt
• A handful of Fresh mint
• A sprinkle of Flaked almonds
• A handful of Pomegranate seeds
• Zest of 1 Lime
• 4 tbsp Hummus
• 1 tsp Paprika

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Then line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
2. Then begin by making the samosas. Peel and finely chop the shallots and garlic. Put the oil into a pan and put over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and fry gently until they begin to caramelise.
3. Peel and grate the ginger and then finely chop the spring onion and chilli. Add these to the onion mix and continue to fry for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potato into small chunks, and then add this to the mix. Cover the pan with a lid and lower the heat. Leave to gently simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potato begins to soften.
5. Add the peas and ½ of the butter to the mix, stir to combine and then leave uncovered to cool a little whilst you prep the pastry.
6. Put the remaining butter into a small pan and leave to melt over a low heat.
7. Lay out one of the sheets of filo on your worktop and cut it into a long rectangle of width about 8cm. Cover the rest of the filo you’re not using at any one time as it will dry out very quickly.
8. Brush the filo strip with the melted butter. Spoon a little of the sweet potato filling into the corner of one short end of the filo. Fold the corner of the filo over to make a triangle shape. Then fold the pastry up into another triangle. Continue this process up the filo sheet until you get to the top, (there’s a photo at the top of the if you want to see the folding process being done).
9. Repeat with the rest of the filo pastry and filling. Put the samosas onto the lined baking tray and brush with more of the melted butter. Put into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Then keep warm until everything else is ready.
10. Meanwhile put a pan filled with water over a high heat for the rice. Once boiling add the rice, lime leaves and a good pinch of salt. Stir to break up the rice and then leave to boil until just soft.
11. Meanwhile move onto the lamb. Put the oil into a pan and put over a medium heat. Add the lamb and then fry gently until it’s brown all over.  Use a wooden spoon to turn the meat over and break it up into small bits. Add the rasel hanout and continue to fry for another 3-4 minutes to cook the spice. Turn off the heat and cover to keep warm.
12. Then put the chapatis onto a lined baking tray and put into the oven with the samosas to warm up.
13. Now prep the yoghurt. Scrunch the mint into a ball and then finely chop it. Add it to the yoghurt and stir to combine. Set to one side for now.
14. When the rice is ready drain it and leave in a pan with a lid on to keep warm.
15. When everything’s ready start to plate up. Chop the flatbreads into triangles and put two on each plate. Spoon a little of the yoghurt onto each flatbread and then top with the minced lamb.
16. Spoon the rice into a little mound next to the flatbreads and grate a little of the lime zest over it. Take a samosa and put it next to the other elements. Then spoon a little of the hummus around the plate, sprinkle with the paprika, flaked almonds and pomegranate, and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x