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Lamb & Purslane Pide

Deeba @ PAB

” You should eat delicious things while you can still eat them,
go to wonderful places while you still can…”
Nora Ephron

Chomp, chomp, chomp. “Ooooh, this is good“, declared Mr PAB between bites. Then gesturing wildly he said, “This MUST go on the blog. It’s GOOD!” So with recommendation, hot off the press oven, here are Lamb and Purslane Pides, or simply put Turkish Flatbread Pizza!What is purslane? It is an annual succulent, found in North India in the hot summer months, is funnily considered a weed in America {LOL}, and cooked extensively through much of Europe, Middle East, Asia and Mexico! It is known as kulfa saag here, and was the only green other than spinach that I could find to replace the chard! It worked a charm …  and went undetected by the ‘green hating‘ terrible teens!It’s been ages since I cooked lamb mince. By healthy choice I’ve switched over th chicken mince but the lamb murmur has been growing stronger of late. My SIL is a great lamb lover and mentioned that she prefers lamb to chicken any day. I was listening. Then the other day, a meeting with someone from BBC GF and she mentioned her undying love for lamb too. Now I was all ears!“Next kebabs will be have to be lamb“, I thought as I got mince from the butcher. However, this morning I lost my inclination to make kebabs. I wanted something on dough, something baked, something quick! I recollected the Turkish pides with sumac I had made long ago and googling got me to a Lamb & Chard Pide recipe on BBC GF!

Pides, local pita bread, are delicious flatbread pizzas topped with different ingredients from Turkeys rich cuisine. You have specialty Turkish pide restaurants across Turkey which sell different avatars of this flatbread. It is popular street food there as well. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and topped materials create distinctive styles for each region which include chicken, beef, cheese, potatoes, garlic and many other ingredients.

It came together fairly quickly. I did a quick rise dough, and by the time the dough was rising, the lamb was ready. Baked quick, crisp and nice, the lamb pides were wolfed down faster than the time I took to make them… not a crumb remained!The recipe suggestion was to drizzle pom molasses over it. I didn’t have any but I did have a fresh plum prune sauce I developed for Del Monte. To that, I added some red harissa that I had made last week. It was H O T! 10 red chilies, more fresh red chilies = fiery HOT! That said, it’s almost gone and I am ready to make my next jar! The lamb offered subtle, gentle flavours, lilted further by the cottage cheese and bell pepper. The pickled peppers added some zest, and a drizzle of plum chili sauce brought out a delicious complexity of flavours … all pairing beautifully together!I loved how quickly and beautifully the meal came together. Of course we had the much dreaded power cut halfway through, so I baked a couple on a heavy griddle pan covered with a lid over low heat …. and there was no reason to complain {pictured above}. So there you, if it’s too hot to turn on the oven OR you suffer power cuts like we have all summer, these cook up crisp beautiful on the stove top too!

I had some dough left over, so made some chicken, red harissa and plum sauce pides the next afternoon for the kids. Gone in minutes! They are filling yet light enough for a summer meal. Pair with a green salad, maybechilled summer cooler … and you have a meal!Bon appetit! Afiyet olsun!

And as I leave I wish to thank Lifezing for interviewing me. It was an honour and I loved doing it.
Catch it, with a whole lot of colour here …

… In conversation with Deeba Rajpal From Passionate About Baking

[print_this]Recipe:  Lamb & Purslane Pides

Summary: Turkish flatbread pizza with lamb and  seasonal greens.The lamb offered subtle, gentle flavours, lilted further by the cottage cheese and bell pepper. the pickled peppers added some zest, and a drizzle of plum chili sauce brought out a delicious complexity of flavours. {Makes 10 pides}.  Adapted minimally from BBC Good Food.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

  • Quick pizza dough
  • 410g plain flour
  • 110gm whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tbsp yeast
  • 30ml extra virgin olive oil
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 380ml warm water
  • Lamb Purslane Mince
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 500gm lean lamb, minced
  • 2-3 tsp roasted cumin powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
  • 1  large bunch purslane {Indian kulfa saag, or chard}
  • 1 red bell pepper, chopped
  • Toppings
  • 150gm cottage cheese, cubed, tossed in olive oil
  • Plum Sauce
  • Red Harissa or chili sauce
  • Pickled peppers
  • 150gm mozzarella

Method:

  1. Quick dough
  2. Place both flours, salt and garlic in bowl of food processor and process for a minute in short burst.
  3. Add remaining ingredients and mix.
  4. Knead for 2-3 minutes to get a smooth pliable dough.
  5. Transfer to an oiled bowl, and leave covered in a warm place for about 15 minutes. Store in fridge after its been doubled if you intend to use it later.
  6. Mince
  7. Heat 2-3 tbsp olive oil in a pan. Sweat onions and garlic in this for 4-5 minutes until light pink, add bay leaves and mince and roast well on high heat. Season with cumin, cinnamon and salt. Cook open on medium high for about 10-15 minutes until the mince is cooked, becomes brownish and no liquid remains.
  8. Add 1 tbsp of the plum sauce and 1-2 tsp of hot chili sauce {as per taste/optional}, followed by greens. Sauté for a minute or two until the greens begin to wilt. Take off heat, add bell pepper and mix well. Cool.
  9. Assemble
  10. Preheat the oven to 225C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or sprinkle a pizza stone with cornmeal.
  11. Divide into 2, and then into 5-6 parts each. Make balls, toss lightly in flour and roll out to an oblong shape, stretching one corner to get a tear drop like base.
  12. Top with cooked mince, pickled peppers, cottage cheese and sprinkle with mozzarella.
  13. Bake at 250C for about 20 minutes, until golden brown and puffy. Drizzle with EVOO and serve with a plum chili sauce, or pom molasses…or as is!

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India

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