Our Fabulous Indian Barbecue...

When Shane & I were in Wellington a couple of years ago, we saw a really cool little barbecue at Asiana Foods in Newtown (where we go in with twenty dollars and come out with more Indian groceries than we can carry!). So many times since then we've reminisced about it, and wished that we'd brought it home with us. Our regular barbecue is a huge big Weber which, even though it's fantastic, involves quite a song & dance to get going. 

When we were back in the Big City on our disastrous holiday a couple of months back, lo and behold, the barbecue was still there, sitting inconspicuously near the doorway, just where it had been when we first fell in love. Despite having all of the paraphernalia of three adults and one Jarvis, this time we did bring it home (packed full of spices, to save space). 

Obviously it's been winter, and a wet one at that, so the new barbecue hadn't had an outing until last weekend. Last Saturday was beautiful, a snippet of spring letting us know what's coming. So, out came the barbecue. Shiny and new, with it's Singh's Tandoors of Mumbai sticker reminding us that this was the barbecue we crazily bought in Wellington and packed into the car like a tetris block. (I stupidly didn't take a picture of the sticker, which disintegrated as soon as it got up to heat. Bugger!). 

Jarvis thought the barbecue was awesome. He seems to be a sensible lad, in that he stands back and watches hot things with a wary look on his face. 

If I'd been super organised, our first meal on our authentic barbecue from Mumbai would have been Indian, sadly I was not, and the garden is full of South East Asian ingredients right now! 

Bun Cha 

(my own special recipe...mish mashed from about a million I've read & tried out!)

500g or so of pork mince

A few tablespoons of fish sauce

A tablespoon or so of palm sugar

A few mashed up cloves of garlic

A few kaffir lime leaves, veins taken out, chopped into very very little bits

I usually warm the fish sauce a bit & melt the sugar in it, you probably don't need to do it this way, but I always have :)  Then it's easy peasy - mix the whole lot together. You could probably put an egg in if you like, but it seems to stick together fairly well. Leave the whole concoction in the fridge for a couple of hours for the flavours to infuse, then make them into little balls (refrigerate again, it helps them to keep their shape).

Barbecue!

Very nice with a dipping sauce of lime juice/fish sauce/chilli flakes. Traditionally they eat this in Vietnam with rice vermicilli and lots of gorgeous fresh herbs, but it's not herb time yet so we mutated the dish even more & had it with rice & flatbreads. Yummy. 

Next time I'll make something Indian, just in case the barbecue feels homesick ;)