Recipe: Indian-spiced shepherd's pie

[wshaffer]

Because posting entries over at my usual recipe blog seems to be broken, I record below for posterity today's cooking experiment, an Indian-spiced shepherd's pie.


This recipe grew out of my pondering the similarity in ingredients between the filling in samosas and the constituents of shepherd's pie. I decided to try cooking ground turkey, carrots, and peas with Indian spices, and topping with mashed sweet potatoes. The result was pretty tasty, although despite using what seemed like a huge quantity of spices, it was quite mild in flavor. Next time, I think I'll use even more ginger and cumin.

The Ingredients

For mashed sweet potatoes:

• 1.5 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks


• 1 tsp. garam masala


• a few tablespoons milk

For the meat:

• 1 tbsp. peanut oil or other neutral oil


• 1.25 lbs. ground turkey (this would probably be better with ground beef or lamb - turkey was a bit of a whim)


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 3 medium-size carrots, diced


• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed


• 2 tbsp. minced garlic


• 2 tbsp minced ginger


• Worcestershire sauce, to taste


• 2 tsp. ground cumin


• 2 tsp. turmeric


• 2 tsp. ground coriander


• 1 tsp. cinnamon


• 1 tsp. garam masala

The Steps

1. Put the sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Add salt, bring to a boil, and cook until the sweet potatoes are soft. (About 10 to 15 minutes, depending on how big the pieces of sweet potato are.)
   
2. Drain the sweet potatoes. Put them in a bowl, and mash with a fork. Add garam masala, the milk, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.


3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.


4. Heat the oil in a medium-sized saute pan over medium-high heat. (If you have an oven-safe pan, you can use it to bake the dish in at the end. Otherwise, you'll need to transfer it to an overn-safe dish after you've cooked all the ingredients.)


5. Add the garlic, ginger, onions, and carrots to the pan. Cook for about 7 minutes, until the onions and carrots are soft.


6. Add the ground turkey, and add a good splash of Worcestershire sauce. Stir to break up the meat and cook until it's cooked through.


7. Add the ground spices and peas, and cook for another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning.


8. If necessary, transfer the meat mixture to an oven-safe pan or dish. Spread the sweet potato mixture on top of the meat mixture, and bake for about 5 minutes, or until heated through.

Makes about 6-8 servings.