Spiced meatballs in curry sauce

Whenever I envisage meatballs, the cute scene from Lady and the Tramp always enters my mind, where the male dog is romancing the female by rolling a meatball towards her with his nose. Also, 'on top of spaghetti, all covered in cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed'. I don't know where that comes from, no doubt an old song. 

Meatballs will always be intrinsically connected with spaghetti and tomato sauce, (like in the picture at top), especially in Italian food obsessed North America, but the meatball has other guises. In Sweden, of course, the meatball is dressed differently, which most of the Western world is now aware of thanks to Ikea. (I have a bag of the frozen balls in my freezer and there are two links at the bottom to recipes using them). Served with a cream sauce and ligonberry jam, they are especially good (and usually served) with mashed potato to soak up the sauce. This post is an homage to the Indian meatball, something I have often day-dreamt about but never actually brought to fruition until I spied a recipe in a new cookbook. It makes perfect sense really as kofta has been a mainstay of Indian and other Asian cuisines for a very long time.

The fundamental elements of the meatball are the same: some sort of ground meat, breadcrumbs for bulk and good texture and seasonings, maybe an egg for binding purposes too. Whereas the Italian variety may be veal, beef or pork and the seasonings oregano, garlic and black pepper, the Indian version would be more likely to contain a mixture of the many spices abundant in the cooking of that country and lamb, a meat that strikes fear into the heart of many North Americans, would probably be a more popular choice. 

One thing remains consistent, however and the reason why they are so beloved; the meatball has a satisfying mouth feel, a meaty, dense texture, ideally a little crispy on the outside and succulent within. This recipe has a few unusual ingredients such as nuts and coconut, but can easily be adapted to whatever you have. The biggest mistake people make with meatballs is using ground meat that is just too lean, resulting in an often dry ball. Make sure you choose a good quality meat with some fat or grind your own. Chuck steak is good, as it also is for burgers.

Recipe : Indian style meatballs in curry sauce

Adapted from Curry - Classic and Contemporary by Vivek Singh

Meatballs

500g (1lb 2oz) ground beef (or lamb)

4 green chili peppers, roughly chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tbsp dessicated, unsweetened coconut

3/4 cup of peanuts or cashews, lightly roasted in a dry frying pan and roughly chopped

2 tbsp each of fennel seeds and cumin seeds, roasted lightly and crushed

4 shallots, peeled and chopped

1 tsp ground turmeric

1.5 inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped

2 tsp salt

Blitz all the ingredients together in a processor and mix well. Form into small balls about half the size of golf balls and refrigerate to allow them to firm up a little while you make the sauce.

Sauce

3 tbsp ghee

1 inch piece of cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

2 tbsp fennel seeds, ground

8 shallots, chopped finely

5 fresh curry leaves

3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped finely

3 large tomatoes, diced

2.5 tsp red chili powder

2 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1.5 cups of beef stock

1 - 2 tsp salt

Heat the ghee (or oil) in a large pan and add the cinnamon and bay leaves. Cook, stirring for about 30 seconds until they are frying. Add the ground fennel, shallots and curry leaves and fry over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the shallots are golden. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for a few more minutes before adding the tomatoes. Cook for another 5 minutes, then stir in the chili powder, coriander and turmeric. Add the stock and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes. 

To cook the meatballs heat about 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan over medium heat and add just enough meatballs to loosely fill the pan, (don't crowd them). Fry until they are dark brown all over and add gently to the curry sauce. Cook the meatballs and sauce for a further 10 minutes or so until the balls are thoroughly cooked. Serve the meatballs on some white rice with the sauce poured over.


Other meatball posts and recipes :

Ikea meatballs
Spaghetti and meatballs (also Ikea)