My grandmother made this unique dish that was my absolute favourite. I’ve never seen meatball curry at an Indian restaurant but it’s so damn good that I really should patent it one of these days!
Sometimes I throw in a handful of chopped spinach just before the curry is cooked so my husband feels content that I’m serving the kids a dose of veggies. The spinach tastes delicious cooked into the curry while adding texture and colour.
Ingredients:
Step 1: The meatballs
- 500 grams lean ground beef
- 1 tbsp garlic puree
- ½ cup bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Step 2: Cooking the onions
- ¼ cup canola oil
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 cloves
- 6 cardamom
- ½ tsp black peppercorn
- 2 tsp whole cumin
Step 3: Creating the curry
- 1 ½ cups crushed tomato
- 1 tbsp garlic puree
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt
Step 4: Putting it all together
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch x 2 inch pieces
- 2 cups water
Step 5: Final Touch
- ½ cup freshly chopped cilantro
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients by hand under step 1.
- Take ⅓ cup of the ground beef mixture and roll into a ball using the palms of your hands.
- Place each meatball on a tray and set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the oil and then add all ingredients under step 2.
- Cook the onions until they are golden brown, stirring periodically.
- Once the onions have turned golden brown, reduce the heat to low and add all ingredients under step 3 into the pot.
- Stir the ingredients together and increase the heat to medium. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring periodically, to enable the crushed tomatoes to form into a flavourful curry. The curry will appear slightly dry at this point.
- Add the water under step 4 into the pot and stir to combine all ingredients.
- Gently place the meatballs one at a time into the pot and then place the potatoes one at a time into the pot trying to fully immerse the potato pieces into the curry to ensure that they cook.
- Cover the pot and let cook for about 8-10 minutes.
- Remove the lid and stir to ensure that the potatoes and meatballs cook evenly in the curry. Return lid and cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Once the potatoes are cooked, the curry is ready.
- Turn the heat off and sprinkle the freshly chopped cilantro into the pot.
- Serve the meatball curry with a side of Basmati rice.