Lamb koftas with herby pomegranate salad

Ingredients

For the koftas

• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 500g lean minced lamb
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 100g pistachios, shelled and roughly crushed
• 2 large tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• Olive oil for cooking
• Salt and black pepper

For the salad

• 2 baby cos lettuce, chopped
• ½ a cucumber, chopped
• 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
• 6 radishes, thinly sliced
• A large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
• A large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• Seeds of 1 pomegranate

For the dressing

• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed

Method

Dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds in a pan until they are popping, then tip them into a mortar and grind with a pestle. Add these to the lamb, onion, chilli, pistachios, parsley, cinnamon and nutmeg, and season well with salt and pepper. Make sure the mixture is well combined then shape into flattened sausages, roughly 10cm long, 4cm across and 2.5cm deep.

You can cook your koftas on a barbecue, on a griddle pan, or in a normal frying pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on each kofta then cook in batches for about 2 minutes on each side. Test to check they are cooked in the middle then keep each batch warm in a foil-covered dish as you cook the rest.

For the salad, mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients until smooth then trickle over the salad.

Serve with your choice of warmed Turkish flatbreads.

No Place For A Lady (Avon) by Gill Paul is available to buy now.