The Front Line Food Diary (Ballotine of Lamb Rogan Josh with Bombay Potatoes and Cobra Beer Bhajis)

Ballotine of Lamb Rogan Josh with Bombay Potatoes and Cobra Beer Bhajis

Sunday night curry is usually a take away affair in our household. This weekend I decided I'd have a go myself.

The Ballotine of Lamb is made by braising a shoulder of Lamb, rolling the picked off meat in a cling film sausage roll, refrigerating it and then slicing and frying it to order. 

The Onion Bhajis are made with gram flour, cobra beer, sliced onions and turmeric. I highly recommend doing these, even on their own.

As always if you want any recipe detail please ask.

My apologies if I'm a little slow at updating right now. I've had a hell of a few weeks, what with my 98 year old Grandmother passing away, my father having a stroke, a new kitten and my course at Tante Marie starting. To be honest it's a small miracle I'm not buying ready meals.

The Kitten however has kept my spirits high. 

Say hello to Marco Pierre White.

...Marco for short.

Cobra Beer Bhajis Recipe for venus.

• Gram four
• turmeric 
• Cobra beer (any lager will do) 
• salt and cayenne pepper. 

Use amounts dependent on how many bhajis you are making. I would start off with around 100 grams at first and if you need more you can add it in later. 

Batter is one of these things that you should just do on the fly. This isn't my anti recipe thing getting in the way here, its just more convenient.

Next add your beer until the consistency is a little thicker than double cream. It has be thick enough to hold to the mixture but still be able to pour. Trial and error will get you closer than any indicator I can give you. Sometimes messing up things tells you more about how to cook than any advice. 

It's good to add your beer a little at a time because you want to (if you can) keep some of the fizz in the mixture to make it lighter. So whisk hard at first and once the lumps are gone you should whisk very lightly (almost fold)

Small lumps are generally ok but I'd still use a hand whisk to do this cause any big lumps of gram flour is a little nasty. 

We use beer because apart from the flavor benefits, alcohol evaporates faster than water, so the coating will crispen up faster and we wont over cook what we are frying.

Once you're happy with consistency add a little turmeric ( a few pinches) until you get a nice colour and then season to taste. For thick stuff like batter cayenne is far superior to black pepper because it will be easier to amalgamate evenly. Just don't go over board.

Next peel and slice your onions in half and then cross slice in medium to thin half moon slices. You probably don't want fine slices as they will overcook too quickly.

Get your oil to 180oC and drop your onion slices into the batter mix, then lift a clump between your fingers in a rough ball shape and drop directly into the hot oil You want to get your hands as close to the oil as you dare to avoid splashing and your batter going everywhere. 

Heat until crispy and lightly colored.

Season with salt as soon as you remove from the oil and leave on a paper towel and pat dry.

Don't just stop at onions. This is a great way to spice up any vegetable. Broccoli is excellent but also asparagus, cauliflower, pretty much anything you can think of.

Comments

[s. stockwell]

Marco is a beauty! Best, s

[Natasha - 5 Star Foodie]

Gorgeous presentation of the lamb dish!

[A Girl Has to Eat]

Marco is gorgeous, although I am sorry to hear about your gran.

This dish looks delish, but I want to see the pig's head!

[thewaroncookbooks]

Thanks, though I'm not to sure how gorgeous he is with his bum in my face as I type right now. It's certainly not his best angle.

I promise to do the pigs head in the summer hols when my exams are done. I'll send you an invite for the grand tasting.

[Venus]

I am so sorry about the news of your grandmother. I hope your father is doing better. It must be such a tough time for all your family.

Your kitten is darling and I love the name.

ps: I would love the bhaji recipe but honestly I don't want to ask with everything that is on your plate right now. If you ever have time..

[msmarmitelover]

What are you studying at the Tante Marie course?

[thewaroncookbooks]

Venus, I'll get on it later today, thanks for the well wishes.

MsMarmite I'm doing the full intensive chefs diploma thingamy.