Saltbush lamb leg & pistachio kofte with smoked eggplant and garlic yoghurt

Region: Gaziantep

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Kebab

• 500g. Lamb leg deboned and cleaned

• 150g. Lamb tail fat or lamb bunting fat or any type of lamb fat

• 100g. finely chopped pistachio

• 1 tablesp. Salt

• 1 tablesp. Pepper

• 1 tablesp. Cumin

• 1 tablesp. Chilli flakes

Eggplant and yoghurt

• 4 large eggplants

• 400 g. strained yoghurt ( from 800g. yoghurt)

• 4 local garlic cloves

• 2 tablesp. Salt

Chilli butter

• 1 red capsicum chopped

• 50g. marash chilli flakes

• 150g. butter

Method:

Finely cube cleaned leg of lamb and lamb fat.

Chop all really finely with a large utility knife or zirh or large mezzaluna

Add salt, pepper, cumin, pistachio and chilli

Mix until combined

Rest minimum of 3 hours but preferably overnight

Mould the meat in your palm in to 6 cm. diameter koftes, pressing down with your fingers

Put them back in the fridge for a further fifteen minutes.

Place koftes on the bbq. Turn the meat around when fat starts dripping in to charcoal.

Take the koftes of the heat when cooked

Pierce eggplants with a fork

Smoke on the charcoal turning when blackened and until all soft

Put in a colander to drain excess water

When cool down, peel the skin.

Put back in colander to rest 10 more minutes

Chop eggplant coarsely in to a chunky puree

Melt 75g. butter in a pan

Add chopped eggplants and 1 tablespoon.of salt

Crush garlic with 1 tablespoon of salt in a mortar and pestle

Mix strained yoghurt with crushed garlic

Melt 75g. butter in a separate pan

Add chopped red capsicum and chilli flakes - Sautee for 2 minutes

Place chopped eggplant to the bottom of the plate

Add garlic yoghurt

Place 3 koftes on top of yoghurt

Add chilli and capsicum butter

Serve straight away

AFIYET OLSUN !!!