Indian Chicken Patties with Pea Flatbreads

In the early hours of this morning we went and watched the premier of Harry Potter. This meant staying up through the early hours and so I decided to try something new (as I had a lot of time) and have a late dinner. So, I had some chicken mince which I had purchased from the poulier on Saturday and thus came up with the idea of some chicken patties with flatbreads. 

It was really good eating and very well received by others. The thing I like the most is how sociable it is and thus it would be perfect for a casual dinner party. Eating with your hands always gives a different atmosphere to a meal, one of comfort and respect for others.

Ingredients:

For the flatbreads:

1 and a half cups flour

Three quarters of a cup of water

Salt

2 tbsps oil and a pastry brush

150g fresh or frozen (thawed) peas

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp coriander seeds

For the patties: 

250g chicken mince

1 onion grated finely (watch the eyes)

Handful of chopped fresh coriander

1tsp harissa

1tsp coriander seeds

1tsp cumin

Bread crumbs (I made my own from toasted sourdough bread and used about 2 pieces of bread) 

Salt and pepper

For the cucumber yoghurt dip:

A quarter of a cucumber grated

Half a cup of plain Greek yoghurt

1 clove garlic crushed

In a pan, add a tablespoon of oil and fry the peas with the spices softly for a couple of minutes, taking care not to burn them. Add small amount water and turn up the heat a little. Put a lid on the pan and cook for around ten minutes, checking and stirring often to ensure the peas do not burn. If more water is needed then add a little more but not too much. 

Meanwhile mix together the flour, some salt and water in a bowl and blend together with your hands. Turn out onto a floured surface and work as you would do a bread dough, kneading for around 5 minutes. The dough should not be sticky so that it sticks to your hand or too dry that it crumbles, so add more water of flour accordingly. Roll the ball into a large ball and leave aside in a bowl. 

Now take the lid off of the peas and mash them with a mashing tool or alternatively you could put them through the blender. Then leave them with the lid off so that the pea mix can dry out a little. Then put the mix onto a plate and leave. When it is mouldable, form 8 small balls from the pea mixture. 

Now in a bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the chicken patties. Place the bowl in the fridge to firm. 

Take the ball of dough and split it into 8 equal parts, rolled up into balls. Take one ball and roll out into a small disc (about as large as the bottom of a wine glass). Place one of the pea balls in the middle and then close the dough around the pea, as though you are making dumplings. Then roll the 'dumpling' out into a roundish flatbread shape. 

Heat a pan and place one of the flatbreads on top. Small bubbles will start to form and after about 30 seconds, turn the flatbread over. Using the pastry brush, brush a little oil over each side and keep turning backwards and forwards for around 4 to 5 minutes or until it looks done. The repeat this process for all 8 flatbreads and then leave them aside.

Remove the chicken mixture from the fridge. Now in another pan, warm some oil and one by one roll up small chicken patties and place them in the pan. Cook them over a medium heat, turning them often so that they brown on all sides. They will need about 20 minutes but do check by cutting one open first before you serve them. 

Finally mix the ingredients for the yoghurt together. This should be more runny than a tzatziki as there is a larger amount of cucumber than yoghurt. This is so that it pours rather than dollops. 

Serve with a salad and fill the flatbreads with the chicken patties, yoghurt and salad. Enjoy!