Minced meat- 2 ways

This is a pretty lame post and and even lamer pic...no patience for food styling and all. So apologies in advance.

Remember I mentioned my cousins were visiting..well we ended up partying it hard over the weekend and was lethargic whole of Monday. Needless to say, we had a blast, but in the process these are the things I learned:

1. Red wine gives me a hang over

2. Gin and tonic is my new found love which brings me to the next point

3. NEVER mix your drinks

4. Next time think a hundred times before deciding to order an entire case of wine off the Internet.

5. Thank the inventor of the dish washer again and again.

So after all that I spent whole of yesterday in bed watching silly mallu movies and making do with left over food for dinner. Had to get off my ass today because of some important deadlines I had to meet but I'm still pretty pathetic with regard to stamina. I have to rest and be ready for Thursday when they will be back from Ireland :)

I had only mince meat and that too quite a bit of it and so decided to go berserk with it since it was raining and windy and incredibly cold to go out and do grocery shopping.

Basic kheema recipe

So with half kg minced meat I made a kheema sorta thing and used that for my empanadas. I was kinda bored with my basic mince meat recipe and so tried out this recipe by PreeOccupied which came out really well. Its a keeper I'd say!

Pizza dough Empanadas

I made use of my leftover pizza dough to make these simple empanadas and they taste pretty darn good.

Pizza base mix- 1, 100 gm packet kneaded according to instructions. Alternatively, follow this recipe.

Cheddar cheese- 1.4 cup (optional)

Butter melted- 1/2 tbsp

Flour- to dust the working surface

Pre heat the oven to 220C

Once the dough has puffed up the first time, knock it back and make about 6 to 7 lemon size balls out of it.

Dust the working surface with enough flour and roll each of it into a circle or oval shape.

Fill with enough mince meat (about 1 tbsp for each circle) and cheddar cheese (if using) and cover carefully. With the tip of your finger, seal it and use a fork to create impressions around the edges if you want to.

Place them on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet because oil might ooze out and make a mess. You don't want to end up scrubbing the tray.

Using a basting brush, generously butter the empanadas for that brown colour. You can also do the same with egg if you please. I was lazy.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes and serve hot with sour cream:)

Minced beef Kebabs (seekh kebab)

With the remaining 200 grams I decided to make seekh kebabs. Something I was very doubtful about, but turned out incredibly yum and it was so darn easy to make.

Minced lean beef- 200

Onion- 1 small, roughly chopped

Green chillies- 3, thinly sliced

Coriander leaves- 1/4 cup, washed and roughly chopped

Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp

Garam masala- 1/2 tsp

Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp

Egg- 1 small

Gram flour- 1 tbsp

Salt- to taste

Wooden skewers- 8 or more

Soak the wooden skewers in water for at least 20 minutes

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl till well combined. If it happens to a be a bit loose, add some more gram flour.

Take small portions in your hand and press it on to the skewers, binding well. If its too heavy then it might fall off (yup I learned from my mistake).

Place them in a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake in an over preheated at 220 C for 20 minutes, turning them occasionally.

You get absolutely delicious and juicy beef kebabs. Serve them with cucumber raita or just a salad.

Notes: Use bread crumbs instead of gram flour

You can make them into patties as well and use the same for burgers.