These are little meatball treasures, jewels of deliciousness worth spending time to make. I make this recipe in 3 stages then combine everything together at the end. serve with spicy roast potatoes and Naan bread it doesn’t get better Get your family and friends together around the table GO ON DO IT.
You can make the basic curry sauce in advance it will keep in the fridge for up to a week in a sealed container.
Balti spice mix ingredients. Make up in advance and store in an air tight container will keep in your store cupboard till ready to use.
2 x tsp paprika
½ x tsp chilli powder
1 x tsp salt
1½ x tsp ground coriander
1 x tsp ground cumin
Mix all spices together use as recipe states in stage 3*. Store the rest for future balti recipes
Stage 1
Basic curry sauce ingredients
3 x tbsp vegetable oil
6 x onions peeled and chopped
1 x inch fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped
3 x garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
2 x tsp ground coriander
1 x tsp ground cumin
½ x tsp chilli powder
1 x tsp garam masala
½ x tsp turmeric powder
6 x cardamom pods lightly crushed
2 x bay leaves
6 x dried curry leaves
2 x tbs tomato puree
6 x fresh tomatoes peeled and chopped or 1 x 400g tinned tomato
½ tsp x salt
1 x tsp pepper
300ml x water
Recipe for basic curry sauce.
Using a large pan heat the oil on a medium to high heat, add the onions and ginger, stir and cook until the onions are just beginning to brown round the edges, reduce the heat and add the garlic, cook for a further minute, add the rest of the spices plus the bay leaves, curry leaves and tomato puree stir and cook gently for 5-10 minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and water, bring to the boil reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaves and cardamom pods, cool the sauce before putting into a Liquidizer and puree until smooth, or use a sieve. Return the sauce to the pan and set aside till the meat balls are ready.
Stage 2
Meatballs ingredients
600g x minced lamb
2 x small onions as finely chopped as possible
2 x cloves garlic crushed
1 x green chilli finely chopped
1 x tsp paprika
½ x tsp ground ginger
2 x tsp chopped coriander finely chopped
1 x large egg lightly beaten
4 x tbsp vegetable oil or gee
Meatball recipe
In a large bowl mix all the meatball ingredients together apart from the oil mix until everything is well blended together, form into 1 inch balls you should end up with around 30. Heat the oil in a frying pan and over a medium to high heat brown the meatballs turning gently to brown all sides (do this in three batches so you don’t over crowd the pan).
Add the meatballs to the balti sauce pan and set aside.
Use the meatball pan and any oil and residue left from the meatballs to complete stage 3.
Stage 3
Balti spice finishing touches
1 x onion peeled and chopped
1 x inch piece fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 x cloves garlic peeled and crushed
1 x green chilli finely chopped
3 x tsp balti spice mix* from the store cupboard
2 x tbsp fresh coriander chopped
Salt and pepper
Gently fry the onions and ginger in the meatball pan till onions become tender and translucent, add the garlic, green chilli and balti spice mix, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes, add to the meatballs and Basic curry sauce pan and stir gently till everything is combined bring to a simmer add salt and pepper to taste and cook for 30 minutes stirring occasionally, just before serving stir in the chopped coriander
Serve with spicy roast potatoes and Naan bread.
