Burmese Mutton Puffs

By: Mrs Robot

Ooops, Christmas came and went with no Greedybots. (In case you’re wondering, this year’s trifle was inspired apple crumble, with lightly poached apples, brandy and cinnamon cake in the base, custard, whipped cream and then crumble fragments on top.) BUT you’re getting a post in January, and you had to wait till February last year so…

We’ve accumulated many cookbooks over the past year, and one we’ve used a lot is Mandalay by Mi Mi Aye. We went to the launch of her first book, Noodle!, which we loved, and were invited to the launch of this one, but my job got in the way. I’ll do a proper review of that in coming weeks, but over the last weekend I made something which didn’t make the cut for Mandalay: seik-thar puffs, or mutton puffs in English. The recipe’s online at Great British Chefs.

The method is interesting, as you fry the onions and garlic first in spices, then do the mutton (okay, I used lamb) and more spices separately, adding cornflour and water and thickening it, then adding the onions later. I’ve learned the hard way to make sure I cook onions properly for Asian dishes, and I know the value of properly browned meat. I was a bit dubious about the cornflour stage – mutton in glue? – but it works brilliantly. I had a bit of meat left over, so ate that on its own. Delicious!

The garlic and turmeric made it taste really Burmese to me. There’s potential here to vary the dish. I think a pork mince would be really interesting, or you could use finely-chopped mushrooms, carrot, water chestnut or other veg with a bit of bite if you want a veggie option. Changing the spices would also make a big change.

Anyway, another great recipe from Mi Mi Aye here!