nepalese meatball curry

After my friend, Ben, spent some time living with a Nepalese family in Kathmandu, he told me about the food he ate there. He explained that he'd eaten dal for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it had seemed so flavoursome and nourishing while he was living in Nepal, but when he came home to Sydney the same recipe tasted dull.

Was it his tastebuds that changed, the ingredients or was it the romanticism of Nepal?

So when I saw this delicious looking tomato based Nepalese curry, flavoured heavily with coriander (roots and all), I wanted to try it.

I adored the coriander laden sauce and it reminded me of curries I have bought at Indian restaurants. In fact, this was the first time my homemade curry matched something I have bought from experts.

I thought the flavours were delicious, but if you’re not keen on coriander I dare say this dish is not for you.

Nepalese Meatball Curry

Recipe from “The Australian Women’s Weekly New Curries”. Serves 4.
 
Ingredients:
Curry
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium white onion (150g), chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
3cm piece fresh ginger (15g), grated
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped coriander roots and stems
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground fenugreek
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
800g canned crushed tomatoes
1 cup (250ml) beef stock
¼ cup lemon juice
Meatballs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small white onion (80g), chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, crushed
5cm piece fresh ginger (25g), grated
750g lamb mince
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 fresh long red chilli, chopped finely
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¼ cup fresh coriander, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons stale breadcrumbs

Method:
1. Make curry. Heat oil in large saucepan. Cook onion, garlic and ginger, stirring until onion softens.
2. Add coriander mixture and spices and stir until fragrant.
3. Add (undrained) tomatoes and stock. Simmer, covered, for 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile make meatballs. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and cook onion, garlic and ginger, stirring until onion softens. Cool 10 minutes.
5. In a large bowl combine mince, whole egg, egg yolk, chilli, spices, coriander, breadcrumbs and onion mixture. Roll level tablespoons of the mixture into balls.
6. Heat remaining oil in the same pan and cook meatballs (in batches) until browned all over.
7. Add meatballs to curry sauce and cook, uncovered, for around 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.
8. Remove curry from the heat and stir lemon juice into curry. Serve with rice.


Tags: morsels and musings food blog food and drink australia recipes meatballs lamb curry coriander cilantro lamb recipes curry recipes nepalese recipes nepalese nepalese food