S.M.E.A.T (SMart USE OF mEAT)

There is one thing, among many things actually, my mother detests. Wasting food. I do not have much trouble dealing with her on that front because I do not let any food go to waste. They'd rather go to my tummy than the garbage bin. My nightly ritual of raiding the fridge makes sure nothing stays long enough to go bad. In fact, the concept of leftovers is only, well a concept, at my place...I ensure that I leave nothing over.

However, I might be a nightly glutton on the prowl but even I can't dig into bowls full of cold rice. Everyday extra rice is made lest someone drops by. And One thing you will always find in our fridge is a large bowl of rice. One of these days I was trying this dish in which I stuffed Chicken breast fillet rolls with minced chicken
 and stewed them in a tomato gravy. So I insisted I need a certain quantity of minced meat despite my mother's persistent warnings that it would be way too much. I wouldn't budge. So I got the minced meat, tossed in the herbs and spices, stuffed my breast and well....I was left with 3/4 of the spiced mince.

I could already hear my mother's words, not the ones which she had already said, but those she would be saying. And I sure didn't like it. It was without much thinking that I brought out half a bowl of chilled rice from the fridge and tossed it into the minced chicken. The chilled rice and the minced, seasoned meat wasn't a good idea. What I had was a soggy mix of rive and meat. So in went a couple of eggs, some more seasoning and a tablespoon or two of cashew nut paste (I don't know why I did that). In a few minutes I had just what I needed. I molded the mixture into smallish patties and shallow fried.

What I had was the dish of the day. And I have made it so many times since. Apologies for photographs that do not do justice to the taste. I am sharing the recipe

Ingredients

Minced chicken - 500g
Finely chopped onions - 1/2 cup packed
Finely chopped garlic - 2-3 tbsp
Finely chopped ginger - 2 tbsp
Finely chopped coriander - 6tbsp
Finely chopped mint - 3 tbsp
Cashew nut paste - 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Green chilli paste - 2 tbsp
Vinegar - 4 tbsp
Cooked long grain rice - 1 cup packed
Eggs - 2
Oil

Method

Marinate chicken with vinegar and salt for an hour. Subsequently drain out the liquids.

Add all the ingredients, except oil. Mix it all nicely and shape into coin-like patties.

Shallow fry on carefully monitored heat. The chicken must cook well and the patties should be nice and brown on the outside.

Serve with onion salad and mint chutney! Drool-worthy...isn't it?

PS: Sometimes, when they are on the griddle, I usually fry a number of them in a single batch, I sprinkle some cheese from top.