Today’s meatballs are pretty simple and quick to make! They are absolutely delicious and comforting. The creamy tomatosauce will give you the need to continue to eat. But beware! If you eat too much of it, like I did, you risk to sleep the whole afternoon. It is the new favourite of my boyfriend, because it is hearty, and not too sugary. The spices are perfectly balanced.
Recipe meatballs
As usual, start by washing your hands and make sure you have all ingredients in reach. We will start with the meatballs. They are different than in the previous blogposts, with a new mix of meat and another juice element!
First of all, we use a mix of pork and chicken meat instead of pork and beef meat. Then we also use shredded courgette in stead of bread with milk. This changes the taste and texture quite a bit!
First peel the ginger and grate it. You need about one large tablespoon. Also take the fresh coriander and cut the leaves (and small bits of the stalks). If you’re handy with chopping, you could also do that! Finally, you cut the two cloves of garlic as small as possible, or you could also chop it. Don’t mash it into a mousse. You’ll want tiny bits. If you have a fragile stomach, steam your garlic or fry it for moment.
Add everything with the minced meat, the garam masala, and salt in a large bowl and mix it evenly with your hands. Of course, you can use a spatula, but this is less efficient. When your mixture is even, make medium to large meatballs with a diameter of more or less 5 to 7 cm. The larger the meatball, the longer they have to cook!
Take a solid pan. This can be an anti-stick pan, or a cast-iron skillet as I did. I just got that skillet, prepared it for use and I’m so incredibly glad I bought it. It was a bargain. A very expensive Le Creuset was long on my list, but this one was a sixth of that price on the Lidl webshop. One of my brothers recommended it to me. Heat a pan and add the coconut oil.
Once the oil is melted, gently add the meatballs and bake them brown on all sides. Make sure they don’t burn. The first time I prepared this recipe, I didn’t bake them long enough, so they had to simmer much longer in the sauce before they were done. Now I bake them on a medium (low) heat for a bit longer until they are almost done.
When they are almost done, take the meatballs out of the pan, and set aside for a moment. Rinse the pan with a (paper) towel for a second use and start with the sauce. Using the same pan will make that you have less stuff to clean after cooking! On top of that, when you are using an iron-cast skillet, it is great that you can let simmer the sauce with the meatballs on very low heat, but keep the inside heat of the pan on level. That’s because of the magic properties of cast-iron.
The tomato coconut oil sauce
Now start with the sauce. This is really easy. Take your pan and melt the coconut oil on a medium heat. It is a buttery sauce, so don’t be afraid of the amount of sauce. It is how it is made.
Add all the spices except for the salt and stir. If you put the heat too high, the spices may burn.
Add the concentrated tomato paste and stir this together with the spices. You’ll get a thick, oily paste.
Now take your tomato sauce and blend this well with the spiced tomato paste. Your sauce is getting form!
Turn the heat on low and add the coconut cream, the lemon juice and the salt. You’ll see that if you put the heat too high, you’ll get tomato sauce everywhere and it may stick to your pan. I recommend to wear an apron if you don’t want your clothes covered in tomato sauce.
When everything is well combined, gently put in the meatballs and let this simmer until they are completely done.
To be sure they are done, you can cut open one of them. Because of the shredded courgette, they stay very juicy on the inside. The meat should be dense of texture and not at all sticky. Then they are ready to be eaten!
Serve this with rice. We eat it with basmati (our favourite), but you could use other types of rice too, or even pasta. Or cooked potatoes. Or whatever.
This is an absolute favourite! You just can’t get enough of it. The taste is incredibly comforting and it feels like you’re having your favourite (occidentalised) Indian take-away. You should try it as soon as possible!
Did you like this recipe? Did you make it? Tell me in the comments below! Also, check the video I made to accompany this recipe, like it and subscribe to my channel. I’m grateful for it! If you have any suggestions for other recipes with ballekes (meatballs), let me know too!
Download the recipe here:
De Maanboom 
0 comments on “Indian inspired meatballs”