Spiced Fish Koftas, Soured Cucumber, Dill & Feta

These delicately spiced koftas are very adaptable to serving as a starter on skewers or as more of a main dish along with the fennel and farro salad or a herbed rice or crusty bread to mop up the yoghurt sauce. For the soured pickles (see recipe) you will need to start 4 days ahead but they keep well in the fridge for at least 2-3 weeks (if not longer).

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Instructions

1.	SPICED FISH KOFTAS
2.	Chill a food processor bowl and blade in the fridge (this helps to keep the fish cool while it’s being mixed).
3.	Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and garlic with a little salt until soft. Set aside to cool.
4.	When cool, put into the chilled food processor with the fish and egg white and blitz to a paste.
5.	Then add the salt, rice flour, spices and lemon zest and mix again.
6.	Stir through the chopped herbs and the pine nuts.
7.	Taking roughly 2 tablespoons of mix at a time, use wet hands to roll the fish into balls. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
8.	When ready to cook, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the fish koftas and fry all over for 5-6 minutes or until just cooked through (you may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your frying pan).
9.	To serve, spoon the dilled feta and yoghurt sauce on a platter, add some pieces of soured cucumber and then top with koftas.
10.	If you want to serve this as a nibble, skewer a piece of soured cucumber on a cocktail stick with a kofta and have the sauce in a bowl ready for dipping.
11.	DILLED FETA & YOGHURT SAUCE
12.	Blitz the feta, yoghurt and dill together in a food processor or with a stick blender until smooth.
13.	Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until required.
14.	SOURED CUCUMBERS
15.	For the brine, heat 250ml water with the salt to dissolve. Stir in the remaining water and leave to cool.
16.	Put the cucumbers and dill in a clean, sterilised jar and top with the brine, leaving a gap at the top.
17.	Use a pickling weight to ensure that none of the cucumbers are exposed to air, and top the jar with a silicon airlock.
18.	If you don’t have pickling weights, fill a resealable bag with some of the remaining brine and put this on top of the vegetables, then cover loosely with cheesecloth and a rubber band to keep out bugs. You can put on a lid but you will need to loosen it every day to allow carbon dioxide to escape.
19.	Put the jar onto a tray to catch any ferment that may overflow, and leave to ferment for 4-5 days in a cool, dark place.
20.	After a few days the brine will turn cloudy and the mix should taste acidic.
21.	You want soured cucumbers that are slightly dulled in colour.
22.	Remove the weights, put a lid on the jar and store in the fridge.