I’m making kofte: minced lamb with freckles of fat to keep it juicy, a scattering of za’atar – the blend of ground thyme and oregano – and tiny specks of sesame. That is all. My kofte usually come with cumin, cinnamon and garlic. This recipe’s seasoning is simpler because of its accompanying lentil sauce with sweet, golden onions, coriander and turmeric.

The finely minced lamb is easy to shape into balls. You twist off pieces the size of a golf ball and roll them between your palms as if it was cookie dough. Like any fritter, patty or rissole, these will hold their shape better if you chill them for half an hour before you cook them.

I cook mine twice: once in sizzling oil to form a glossy crust (if they don’t spit at you, the flame isn’t high enough), then again in a deep, rust-hued pool of sauce in the oven. There is much sauce – enough to make you reach for a spoon or a crust to clean your plate.

Bean rissoles are stickier; trickier to roll. Dust your palms with flour to stop the mashed beans sticking. You can use boiled and skinned broad beans or crushed tinned haricot but I like the flavour and texture of edamame, which I buy frozen. Whichever beans you use, they will need seasoning with garlic – and herbs such as coriander and chives or, for haricot, finely chopped thyme.

In lieu of a sauce I make a sticky dip, glossy with honey and spiked with ginger and lime juice. The green patties are fried till they have a fragile, golden crust then plunged, hot from the pan, into the dip, as bright and shiny as lip gloss.

Edamame fritters, dipping sauce

Most frozen edamame is already cooked, ready to beat to a cloud of green mash with olive oil or butter or to scatter in a salad of iced noodles, mint and coriander leaves and matchsticks of cucumber.

You could substitute new broad beans for the edamame, but be prepared to pod and skin a lot of beans in order to get 500g. Frozen beans are fine. Cook them in boiling, lightly salted water, then pop them from their pale, papery skins before mashing, seasoning and rolling them.

Serves 4

edamame 500g (podded weight)

parsley 30g

chives 25g

coriander 30g

garlic 3 cloves

For the dipping sauce:

honey 2 tbsp

soy sauce 2 tbsp

mirin 1 tbsp

rice vinegar 1 tbsp

grated ginger 1 tbsp

lime 1

groundnut or vegetable oil for shallow frying

Defrost the edamame. Bring a deep saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the edamame and cook for 15-20 minutes till tender, then drain in a colander. Remove the parsley leaves from their stalks. Roughly chop the chives. Peel the garlic. Transfer the edamame to a food processor, add the parsley leaves, the coriander leaves and stems, the chives and garlic and reduce to a thick purée.

Shape the mixture into 16 equally sized balls weighing roughly 40g each, flattening them slightly as you go. Place them on a tray and refrigerate.

Make the dipping sauce. Put the honey, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and grated ginger in a small saucepan. Slowly bring to the boil. Remove from the heat. Halve and squeeze the lime and stir the juice into the dipping sauce and set aside.

Warm a thin layer of groundnut or vegetable oil in a pan. Place the fritters in the hot oil and fry gently over a moderate heat, for about 4 or 5 minutes, until the undersides are toasted, then turn and cook the other side.

Serve hot, with the dipping sauce.

Za’atar kofte with lentils

Za’atar stars: lamb kofte with lentils. Photograph: Jonathan Lovekin/The Observer

Za’atar is the herb mixture I use most often. The soft, khaki-coloured powder, a mix of ground oregano, thyme and sesame, brings a musky warmth to sautéed chicken and grilled lamb, to roasted squashes and steamed grains.

The za’atar I have now was brought back from Lebanon and is still redolent of the oregano and wild thyme growing on the hillsides. The mixes available here are fragrant too, but buy them in sealed packets rather than from open sacks where their magic is prone to disappear.

Serves 4

large onion 1

groundnut oil 7 tbsp

garlic 3 cloves

minced lamb 500g

za’atar 4 tbsp

ground cumin 2 tsp

ground coriander 2 tsp

ground turmeric 2 tsp

chicken stock 1 litre

red lentils 300g

finely chopped coriander 3 tbsp

Peel and finely chop the onion. Warm 4 tbsp of the oil in an ovenproof shallow pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat for about 20 minutes until they are soft. Peel the garlic, finely crush and stir into the softening onion.

Put the lamb into a mixing bowl, add the za’atar and shape into 8 balls. Place the balls on a tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir the ground cumin, coriander and turmeric into the onions and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, then stir in the lentils and turn the heat down to a simmer and leave for 20 minutes. Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6.

Warm the remaining oil in a frying pan, add the lamb balls and let them fry till the underside is golden. Roll the balls over and let them sizzle till golden, then lift them out and lower them into the lentil sauce. Bake the lamb and lentils for 25 minutes, then stir in a little fresh coriander and serve.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@NigelSlater