Mid- week cooking : Tagine of spicy kefta with Lemon

This is my first recipe blog and i want to share something very yummy that Daniel and i have recently discovered,Tagine of spicy kefta with Lemon. It is from this book, Tagine spicy stew from morocco by Ghillie Basan ( if i have broken some rules by posting this here, please let me know and i will take it down)

Tagine of spicy kefta with Lemon

Kefta

450g finely minced beef or lamb

1 onion, finely chopped or grated

A small bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

I tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or 1 teaspoon paprika

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the rest

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter or ghee

1 onion, roughly chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, halved and crushed

A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1 red chili, thinly sliced

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

A small bunch of fresh mint leaves, chopped

Freshly squeezed juice of lemon

1 lemon, cut into 4 or 6 segments, with pips removed

To make the kefta, pound the minced meat with your knuckles in a bowl. Using your hands, lift up the lump of minced meat and slap it back down into the bowl. Add the onion, parsley, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and cayenne and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Using your hands, mix the ingredients together and knead well, pounding the mixture for a few minutes. Take pieces of the mixture and shape them into little walnut-sized balls, so that you end up with about 16 kefta (these will last up to 2-3 days in the refrigerator)

Heat oil and butter together in a tagine or heavy-based casserole. Stir in the onion, garlic, ginger and chili and saute until they begin to go Brown. Add the turmeric and half the coriander and mint, and pour in roughly 300ml water. Bring the water to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Carefully place the kefta in the liquid, cover and poach the kefta for about 15 minutes, rolling them in the liquid from time to tie so they are cooked well on all sides. Pour over the lemon juice, season the liquid with salt and tuck the lemon segments around the kefta. Poach for a further ten minutes

Sprinkle with reaming corriander and min serve hot with a leafy salad and couscous