A Middle Eastern-spiced play on Spanish pinchos. Perfect with a toothpick stuck in, served alongside beer or bubbles. Or use these little nuggets of joy to top a crunchy Israeli-style chopped salad… or as a punchy accompaniment to a delicate pilaf. Literally never not delicous.
- 500g lamb
- 2 tsp pul biber
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp dried mint
- 1 tsp onion granules
- ½ tsp garlic granules
- ½ lemon (or 3 tbsp lemon juice)
- 1 tsp salt
- Black pepper
- 2 tbsp veg oil
- Dump the lamb mince into a bowl and enthusiastically scatter over all of the spices
- Squeeze in a small amount of lemon juice (keeping the rest of the half lemon for later)
- Mix thoroughly with your hands, making sure the spices are well-distributed and squeezing the mixture together into a firm-ish ball
- Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium-high heat
- Pinch off small pieces of the minced lamb mixture (just using your thumb and two fingers, don’t compress them or roll them – uneven and rough around the edges is the name of the game). This amount of lamb will make 24-26 pinches
- Pop them into the pan one after the other as you quickly pinch them
- Fry on one side for about 5 mins then flip and cook for a further 2 mins
- Turn the heat down and squeeze over the remaining lemon and a tiny splash of water
- Turn the pinches over in the dressing, scraping the brown off the bottom of the pan and combining the lamb fat and lemon juice into a savoury, glossy glaze to coat your lamb
- Turn off the heat and serve immediately. Try not to eat them all on your way from the kitchen to the living room.
If you’d like to spice these little bites in other ways, go for your life. Replace the cinnamon and allspice with turmeric and fenugreek for an Indian take. Or just cut out everything except the garlic, onion and paprika for the fuss-pots.
Sophie cooks 