Lamb Meatballs with Indian Curry
Serves: 4
Prep + Cook Time: 50 minutes
Calories: 535
Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb ground American lamb
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 shallot, finely minced ( or sub ½ cup chopped onion)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon dried mint ( or 1 tablespoon fresh)*
For the curry:
1 tbsp olive oil**
1 shallot, diced
4 cloves garlic- minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or use paste
1 tsp fresh turmeric, grated (or ½ teaspoon ground turmeric)
1 tbsp garam masala spice
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves ( optional, but really good- elevates the dish )***
1 extra large tomato, finely diced, with juices
1 c. cream****
1/4 c. 2% milk****
2 tsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt, more to taste
¼–½ tsp cayenne, more to taste
Directions:
Place ground lamb, shallot, garlic, salt, garam masala and mint in a bowl and mix well, using your hands. Using wet hands, form into 1 ½ inch wide balls. ( For me, this was approx 14 meatballs.)
Heat a large skillet over high heat and add 1 tsp olive oil (you don’t need much oil, lamb has plenty of fat). Begin searing the lamb meatballs, until most sides are nicely browned, about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.
Reduce your heat to medium and add a little ghee or olive oil in a skillet over medium heat (not sure you need the full tbsp as there will be plenty of oil already in the pan from the meatballs). Add shallot and cook 3-4 minutes, scraping up any brown bits from the lamb. Add garlic and ginger and cook two more minutes. Add all the spices and then the tomato and its juices. Cook 1 minute. Add the cream & 2% milk and simmer gently for 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar, salt and cayenne. Taste and adjust salt and heat.
Add the lamb meatballs to the sauce, coating well. Simmer gently until the lamb meatballs are cooked through ( 5-10 minutes).
You can serve over rice, but we ate this in a bowl with freshly toasted naan. This is not reflected in the calories above.
*I did not have any mint, so I left it out.
**You can use ghee or olive oil, I made the recipe with olive oil. If you use ghee, adjust calories accordingly.
*** I have been unable to find fenugreek leaves, so I used 1/2 tsp of powdered fenugreek seeds
****The original recipe calls for 14.5 oz of coconut milk, but I prefer cream in my curry. I added a large splash of 2% milk so that the curry wasn’t too thick, you can use your own judgement/taste here.