(Pic above is of pasties made with this mince recipe)

I live in Sydney with my amazing husband Brian and have three beautiful children. I am a Diverse Learning Advisor supporting students with disabilities. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis about 9 years ago and had the classic symptoms of weight gain, feeling lethargic and just not feeling well. I saw a naturopath and she put me on an 8 week weight loss program which was basically a grain free/dairy free wholefoods Paleo way of eating. At the end of the 8 weeks, I not only lost 7 kgs but my skin had cleared up, I had more energy and best of all my thyroid antibodies had come down from more than 1000 to 400.

I have been following the paleo-ish way of eating since then as well as AIP with reintroductions. Having experienced the benefits of this lifestyle, I have always wanted to spread the word and
help others improve their health. I knew I wanted to do something food related, but was not quite sure what or how as I had no experience in that industry. Untill…. When I came across a post in my Instagram feed about the Primal alternative business opportunity. It just felt right and I contacted Helen immediately, and had my interview sitting in my car in a carpark! With support from my family, I signed up and feel it’s the best decision I have ever made.

Primal Alternative is what I call a ‘Business in a box’. Once you buy the licence, you can pretty much start that very same day. Everything from recipes, labels, wholesale contacts for ingredients, media material….. it’s all there. What I like the most is, I can work at my business as little or as much as I want to and best of all there are no targets to meet. I started with baking one evening a week as I had a full time job to baking one day a week now as I have gone part time. Being a Primal Alternative producer, I get to attend all the wonderful wellness events and meet some awesome people and idols of mine – Kirsty Wirth, Cyndi O’Meara, Helen Padarin, Alexx Stuart, Jo Whitton… to name a few. These change makers are spreading the word, bringing awareness about gut health, good lifestyle choice, the importance of wholefoods and providing resources to make it easier for those deciding to embark on this journey.

I love using the Kultured Wellness coconut yoghurt and water kefir cultures. Growing up I remember, every night, Mum would add a tablespoon of previous day’s saved yoghurt to boiled and cooled milk for next day’s batch. Making my own coconut yoghurt using Kultured Wellness cultures brings back these fond memories. One of the staple breakfast in our house was ‘stuffed paratha’ eaten with homemade pickles and a bowl of fresh yoghurt. Paratha is a wheat based flat bread commonly filled with potatoes, cauliflower, radish or minced meat. I used Jo Whitton’s grain free pastry to make mince paratha which certainly hit the spot.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp fat of choice – ghee/olive oil
• 250 gm beef or lamb mince
• 1 medium onion finely chopped
• 1 chopped green chilli
• 1 inch piece finely chopped ginger
• 3-4 cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 tbsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp or to taste red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• A big handful of coriander leaves chopped
• 2 tbsps mint leaves chopped
• 2-3 tbsps lemon juice
• 1 recipe Quirky Cooking grain free pastry from the book Life Changing Food or 1 pack frozen Primal Alternative grain free dough, thawed

Method

1. Heat ghee/olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan/ skillet over medium heat.
2. When the oil is hot, add the onion, ginger and garlic and saute over low heat for 4-5 minutes till the onions are translucent.
3. Add the mince and saute till brown.
4. Now add all the other spices and mix well.
5. Cover with a lid and cook for about 10 mins till the mince is cooked.
6. Remove the lid and cook the mince on high heat for a few minutes till the mixture is dry.
7. Add the lemon juice, coriander and mint leaves and turn off the heat.
8. Let the mixture cool.
9. Knead the pastry dough with 3 tbsp ghee and 1 tsp salt.
10. Take about 50 gms of the dough and roll out to about 3-4 inches across.
11. Place 2 tablespoons of the cooled mixture in the middle. Gather the dough towards the mixture as you pleat it. Pinch the dough together and flatten it down. Now dust this ball with tapioca and gently roll out the dough again to about 4-5 inches. The mince will start sticking out but don’t worry, that’s ok.
12. Cook in a preheated cast iron skillet on medium heat on one side for 2 minutes. Then carefully flip it over with a spatula and cook on the other side for another 2 minutes.
13. Spread about 1 tsp of ghee and flip it again. Repeat with the other side. The paratha should be golden brown and crispy.
14. Serve with a dollop of yoghurt sprinkled with salt and pepper and a side of Indian pickle or sauerkraut.

Recipe by Primalista Gita
@primalalternativebygita