Spiced Lamb Mince with Flatbread

Ingredients

• 600 g lamb mince
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• salt and black pepper
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 25 g fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 flatbreads, to serve
• 15g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 1 lemon, cut into wedges
• plain yogurt, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, wide pan over a high heat until it shimmers. Season the lamb mince generously with salt and pepper before it hits the pan.
2. Brown the mince in two batches. All at once and the pan crowds, water comes out, and you've boiled the meat instead of browning it — you want a deep, caramelised crust and the liquid fully evaporated, about 6–7 minutes a batch. Return all the mince to the pan.
3. Drop the heat to medium. Add the onion and grated carrot and cook for 5–6 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened and starting to catch at the edges — those golden spots are flavour.
4. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin, garam masala, smoked paprika, chilli flakes, and tomato purée. Bloom the spices in the fat for 60–90 seconds until fragrant and a shade darker — raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves. Watch the garlic; 30 seconds in and it should smell sweet, not bitter. Don't burn it.
5. Tip in the rinsed lentils and stir to coat in the spiced fat. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the water or light stock, scraping the base of the pan to lift any stuck bits. The stock here is essential — it breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of fruit, not heated tin.
6. Bring to a brisk simmer, then cook over a medium heat for 18–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have collapsed into the sauce, the mixture is thick and glossy, and the oil begins to separate at the edges. Loosen with a splash more water if it tightens too far.
7. Taste, season, taste again. Adjust the salt and black pepper now — at the end, not at the table.
8. ## To Serve
9. Warm the flatbreads in a dry frying pan for about 1 minute each side, until soft and lightly blistered.
10. Scatter the lamb generously with the chopped coriander, serve straight from the pan with the warm flatbreads, a bowl of cool yogurt alongside, and lemon wedges for squeezing — the squeeze of lemon at the table cuts through the rich, spiced fat.