Tandoori Lamb with Sweet Onion Rice

For me there's something about lamb. Maybe it's because we only had it infrequently when growing up. Maybe it's because when you cook it right you get a meat that's incredibly tender. Maybe it's because it adds such a depth of flavour to a meal all buy itself. Whatever it is some of my favourite dishes are lamb ones. This dish is something we eat all the time. It's a big winner with both of us both for the flavour and for the ease with which it comes together. The tandoori coupled with the spiced rice mix together during cooking to make a blending of sweet and spice which is fantastic. And it all comes together in the time it takes to cook the rice, awesome.

Tandoori Lamb with Sweet Onion Rice

Adapted from Donna Hay's No Time to Cook

Serves 4

400gr lamb forequarter roast (cubed)

2 medium brown onions (cut into wedges)

5 cloves garlic (sliced)

3/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garam masala
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups chicken stock
3 tsp tandoori paste
1 green capsicum (diced)
1/4 tsp extra cumin
1/4 tsp extra garam masala

In a saucepan heat 1 tbsp canola oil over a medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and fry for 1 minute, add cumin and garam masala and cook for 30 seconds mixing well. Add rice and cook for a further minute. Add chicken stock, bring to boil and then cover and simmer on low.

Meanwhile add lamb and tandoori paste to a non stick fry pan. Stir well to coat and then fry over a high heat for 2 minutes. Add lamb to rice. Cook until all water has been absorbed. Remove saucepan from heat and leave to rest covered. Meanwhile place capsicum and extra spices in non stick fry pan. Stir well to coat and then cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add capsicum to rice and lamb and stir through. Serve.

Stir fried soba with green beans

This is not a complicated meal. It's about as time consuming as it is complicated. This is the sort of meal that I make in less than 15 minutes for a really quick lunch comprised of what I have in the cupboard. This meal uses only one pot, yay for less cleaning.

This is also by no means a traditional dish. It's some kind of weird Japanese and Chinese mix which is really not either. I'm just going to say it now, I love soba, traditional soba served cold with soba sauce and a sprinkling of seaweed and sesame seeds. I remember the first time I had it was from a food van in small provincial town in Japan. I was 16 and staying with a host family and struggling through conversations with some really rudimentary Japanese. But there's something about food that's universal and I'll always remember sitting together and getting to know these people over cold soba and being told to slurp louder. In summer I'll make myself a big bowl and slurp away, Japanese style.

This is not that dish but it gives me a new way to enjoy soba, when it's colder and I feel more like something warming. 

Stir Fried Soba with Green Beans

Serves 1

1 serve soba (Japanese buckwheat noodles)

1 garlic clove (diced)

1 tsp diced ginger

1 handful green beans (chopped)

1 1/2 tsp dark soy

3 tsp light soy

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add soba and simmer uncovered for 5 mins or until cooked. Meanwhile chop the garlic, ginger and beans. Combine the sauces, chilli powder and black pepper. Strain noodles and rinse with cold water. 

In the same pot you cooked the noodles in, fry the onion and garlic in 1 tsp canola oil. When the garlic begins to brown add the beans and cook for a further minute. Add the soba and the sauce mix and stir through. Cook for 30 seconds and then serve. I had mine with a bowl of miso.