South Indian Meatball Curry

®This is a RAS signature Recipe©

A rich, luxurious, and delicious Meatball curry made a perfect South Indian blend of spices and Coconut cream!  You will love how well this curry goes with rice, soft flatbreads, or even pasta!

The Recipe Intro↓ has more information as well as Recipe Video. If you’d like to check it out.

♦Prep time:20 min ♦Cook time:40 ♦Yield: 6 servings.

You can strike through ingredients, as you prep them, by clicking on the ingredient.

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

Freshly minced beef (you can use lamb/mutton if you prefer)		600 gms
Red Onions, finely chopped		2 (medium-sized)
Fresh Curry Leaves, chopped		1 sprig
Fresh Coriander leaves, chopped		3 Tbsp
Egg		1
Salt		1/4 tsp
Oil (for shallow frying)		As needed (1/4-1/2 cup)

• To be ground together to a paste:

  Puffed gram (roasted split chickpeas) - see notes		3 Tbsp
  Garlic		4 large cloves
  Ginger		2-inch piece
  Green chilies		3-4 small sized
  Fennel seeds		1 tsp
  Cumin seeds		1/2 tsp
  Coriander powder		1 1/2 tsp
  Mild Chilli powder		1 tsp

For the Curry:

Oil (plus 2 tsp for tempering)		2-3 Tbsp
Mustard seeds		A Pinch
Fennel seeds		1/2 tsp
Curry leaves		1 Tbsp
Red Onion, chopped		1 large
Ripe Tomatoes, chopped		2 large sized
Garlic, chopped		6 large cloves (divided)
Tamarind pulp (Asam Jawa)		1 lime-sized ball
Tbsp Coriander powder		1 1/2
Mild chili powder		1 tsp
Turmeric powder		1/4 tsp
Kara™ Coconut Cream		200 ml carton
Asafoetida (Hing)		1/4 tsp
Black Pepper powder		1/4 tsp
Salt		To taste (1/2 tsp)
Fresh Coriander leaves, chopped		2 Tbsp

Method:

1. Add all the ingredients ‘to be ground to a coarse paste’, into a small grinder or blender, and blend, adding just a little water (2 Tbsp), to form a coarse paste.
2. Add this paste to the minced meat in a large bowl.
3. Also add the remaining ingredients for the meatballs (chopped onion, curry leaves, coriander leaves, egg, and salt).
4. Using your hands, gently mix the meatball mixture, to incorporate the ingredients uniformly, without over-mixing.
5. Roll into lime-sized meatballs, using gentle pressure only and place on a tray lined with parchment paper.
6. Place this in the freezer(10-15 minutes), while you gather the remaining ingredients,  for the curry.
7. Soak the tamarind pulp in a small bowl of boiled water to soften it. Later, mix and strain this to remove the seeds and pulp and extract the tamarind solution.
8. Also, chop the onion, garlic, and tomato for the curry.
9. Fry the meatballs: Heat oil for shallow-frying in a wide nonstick pan. Place the meatballs gently into the oil. As soon as you’ve added the first batch. Gently shake the pan, so that the meatballs don’t stick to the bottom. Once the first side is slightly golden, flip them over. Don’t flip them over too soon.
10. Prepare the curry: At the same time, simultaneously in another pan, add 2-3 tbsp of oil and bring to heat.
11. Once the meatballs are lightly golden on both sides, remove them from the oil and repeat with the next batch.  Don’t fry the meatballs too long,  because they will cook again in the curry sauce. Also, remove the fried bits from the oil before adding the second batch. Set this aside for later.
12. In the other pan, add the mustard seeds. Once popped, add the fennel seeds and once fragrant, add curry leaves, followed by the chopped onion.
13. Saute briefly till softened. Add half of the chopped garlic and continue to sauté – on a low flame till it’s nice and fragrant. The color should turn light golden, with frequent stirring. Make sure it doesn’t turn too dark.
14. Now we can add the spice powders; coriander powder, mild chili powder, and turmeric powder. Stir quickly till fragrant, and add in the chopped tomatoes.
15. After the tomatoes are added, turn up the heat and fry, till they are softened to a pulp. Once they are nicely mashed, add 4 cups of water, stir, and bring to a simmer.
16. As the curry comes to a simmer, mix the tamarind pulp that has softened by now and strain to remove the seeds and pulp.
17. Add just two ladles of this to the simmering curry, you don’t need all of it as it will make the curry too sour.
18. Also, add salt to taste (about 1/2 a tsp should be enough) and 1/4 tsp of Asafoetida(for that umami flavor).
19. Now, it’s time to add in those fried onion bits from frying the meatballs earlier followed by all the par-cooked meatballs. Lay the meatballs in gently and simmer this for 20 minutes – on a low to medium flame. This gives the meatballs a chance to cook down to the center as well as absorb all those flavors. Give the pan a gentle shake every now and then.
20. Add 100-150 ml of the Kara™ coconut cream (at room temperature). Add half this amount first and gently shake the pan to incorporate the cream into the curry before adding the rest (to taste). It’s best NOT to use your ladle to stir in the coconut cream as this tends to break up the delicate meatballs.
21. The meatballs should be nicely coated in the creamy curry sauce now. Turn off the heat while doing the tempering.
22. Tempering: Add 2 tsp of oil in a small pan and when hot, add the remaining chopped garlic and fry till golden brown. Add this to the curry and gently mix it in. A key to keeping the garlic from burning while frying is to rinse and strain the minced garlic before adding it to the hot oil.
23. Return that curry that was resting back to a simmer and finally add the black pepper powder and fresh coriander leaves. Very gently incorporate these ingredients. Add a little bit of boiled hot water if you need to loosen the consistency Don’t add too much and dilute your curry.
24. Now you can drizzle the remaining bit of coconut cream over the top of the curry before serving (optional).
25. Your delicious South Indian Meatball curry is ready to be served.  This is great with any type of fragrant rice, soft flatbreads, or even pasta!

South Indian Meatball Curry

Notes:

• Puffed gram,  also known as Bengal gram dal, roasted gram, or fried gram. Black chickpeas (Kala Chana) are processed by removing the outer skin, splitting the inner pale-colored chickpea in half, and then roasting the resulting peas to give them a nutty aroma and crunchy texture.
• The oil used is neutral flavored oil like Sunflower or Vegetable oil.
• Only use a small piece of Cinnamon,  in the meatball mixture. Using too much will overpower all the other flavors.
• Asafoetida is the dried gum resin obtained from the roots of Ferula plants. It is commonly dried to a powder and extensively used in Indian cuisine. It is often used as an Umami seasoning and is easily available at your local Indian store. In case you can’t find it, you may omit it. Alternatively for ¼ tsp of powdered Asafoetida, you can use a mixture of ¼ tsp garlic powder and ¼ tsp onion powder, combined. For this dish,  you may add this mixture after adding tomatoes. It provides a suitable substitute, although not an exact replica of the flavor. Asafoetida is available online.
• This makes a good plan  ‘make ahead of time’ recipe. You can prepare the meatballs and freeze them and even make the curry up to the point of adding coconut cream and freeze that. Later just fry the meatballs, add to the defrosted curry, add coconut cream, and do the final cooking.

Key Ingredients: Minced meat, Onion, Garlic, Ginger,  Green chillies, Tomato, Tamarind, Asafoetida, Coconut Cream, Curry leaves, Coriander, Spices, Egg, Oil, Salt.

 

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