Indian spiced shepherds pie

If you’re looking for tasty dinner ideas you can’t go past this Indian-spiced shepherd’s pie. It contains lamb mince and loads of vegetables, so it ticks all the boxes for a healthy and balanced meal.

This Indian-spiced shepherd’s pie is very tasty, it is beautifully flavoured with the curry spices and Kasundi. It is one of my favourite winter weeknight dinners.

I was watching The Cook Up with Adam Liaw on SBS Food recently, and there was a discussion about the difference between a shepherd’s pie and a cottage pie. Well, the difference is shepherd’s pie is made with lamb, and cottage pie is made with beef.

coconut oil, or oil of your choice
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2cm piece ginger, finely grated
600g lamb mince
2 tbsp (8 tsp) Herbies Curry Mix (with Whole Seed & Spices)
2 tsp Herbies ‘panch phora’
1 carrot, grated
1 zucchini, grated
1 x 400g can tomatoes
1/4 cup tomato kasundi*, plus extra to serve
1 cup frozen peas

Topping
1kg potatoes, peeled & chopped OR 500g of white potatoes & 500g sweet potato
1 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 long green chilli, finely sliced
1 lemon, juiced
100g butter, cut into cubes
Salt & pepper

Method:

1. Heat a little oil in a frypan over medium heat, then add the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Next, add the garlic and ginger and sauté for another minute. Add the lamb and cook until browned.
2. Add the curry spice mix & panch phora and cook for a minute or so or until fragrant. Add the kasundi, carrot, zucchini and tomatoes, stir well and bring to a simmer & pop a lid on top and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the peas. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Pour lamb mixture into a 2L baking dish, or 6 individual ramekins.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C.
4. Meanwhile, place the potatoes in a pan of lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Cook for 12-15 mins or until tender. Drain, then mash until smooth. Add the coriander, turmeric, chilli, lemon juice and butter, season with salt and pepper, then mix until combined.
5. Spoon potato mixture over the lamb and spread to cover, use a fork to fluff up the potato.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 25 mins or until golden.
7. Serve with steamed green beans, if desired.

Notes: Kasundi is an Indian tomato chutney which adds a sweet spicy note to the pie. At Kitchen to Table, we stock an excellent version by Cunliffe and Waters.
All the spices used in this recipe are available to purchase at Kitchen to Table.