Shepherd's Pie: You only *Think* you've tried it:

[Sunbeam]

As some of the forum/chatroom regulars know, I'm an aspiring Indian/Punjabi chef. My spice cupboard threatens to take over the whole kitchen. Toasted and freshly ground whole-seed spice blends and vats of freshly cooked curry base sauce are taking over the remaining space. Curries, karahis, baltis and the like have become staples.

I think I was looking up the story behind Mace (Javantry), a special part of the plant that gives us Nutmeg... when I stumbled across this recipe. We are going to cook up a batch tomorrow for me to take on work lunches. I'll let you know what I think after I try some, but it looks real promising.

The recipe calls for a pound / 500g of minced lean lamb. There's no reason why you can't try this recipe with lean ground beef/pork/chicken/turkey/moose/venison/goat, or hamster.

Here, Have fun: http://www.parsidadhaba.com/recipes.htm

The astute reader will have noted the similarity to a typical Keema Lamb recipe, converted to Shepherd's Pie format.

[Sunbeam]

My favourite ingredient listing in this recipe is:

"A happy dash of red wine (optional) and another swig for your happy self"

Oh, and under "Method" :

"up the flame and add the minced meat, now take a sip of wine and with enthusiasm mix the meat and onions"

Now, this chef has the right attitude, I'm thinkin.

Cheers

[Sunbeam]

BTW, I was just kidding about hamsters. Really. I promise.

[Marsbar]

Oh not you weren't. Regardless they tasted great!

[Sunbeam]

OK, I tried this with lean ground beef. I had just made up a batch of home-made curry powder, which had fresh dry-roasted and ground coriander and cumin seeds as top ingredients, so I substituted a couple teaspoons of that for the toasted/crushed seeds in the recipe.

The only thing I noticed, it took longer to cook down to an acceptable consistency after the tomatoes were added than the recipe suggests- 8-10 minutes easily became 30 minutes before I was happy with the look of it. I reduced the worcestershire sauce, but in retrospect, this recipe can take a lot, so just follow the list.

Overall reaction: This is a good recipe, let's make it again The lime juice and fresh cilantro takes it over the top.

[kongponleu88]

I must warn you, this recipe is more complex than the others we've conquered. ... a level 1, and Paleo Spaghetti was level 2, this shepherd's pie is a level 3. ... to coconut or you don't want to spring 2 bucks for a can that you'll only use a bit ... probably work here too, though I make no guarantees as I haven't tried them.
goldenslot