Mom’s Meatballs

(ammi ke hath ke koftay)

Zee, your grandma’s meatballs curry is quite famous. Since she follows her mom’s recipe so everyone on her side of the family are familiar and hence no big deal for them.

But for her in-laws, i.e. your granddad’s family, this meatball curry is all time favourite. A must for all family dinners.

Same goes for my in-laws, i.e your dad’s side.

Although these meatballs were always used in a curry form in our house but I have invented several interesting variations and hence totally different dishes out of these meatballs.

For eg,

• meatball pasta in tomato sauce base, using lots of Italian herbs.
• meatball baguette, accompanying with cheese and lettuce
• meatball pulao
• grilled meatballs with garlic bread
• or meatball with salad (just like falafel)

Following is the complete recipe for meatball curry from your grandma.

You can also use it to make just meatballs.

A few tips are important to follow. Which I have mentioned at the end of this post.

Ingredients for meatballs

very fine minced meat 1/2 kg (makes approx 10 meatballs)

gram flour/chana powder 3–4 tbs (roast and make a paste by adding 3–4 tbs water)

red chilli powder 1 tsp

garam masala 1 tsp

salt

onion (finely chopped) 1 medium

ginger (finely chopped) 1/2 inch piece

coriander leaves (finely chopped) /2 cup

green chillies (finely chopped) 5–6

Method for Making Meatballs

1. To make meatballs, add all the ingredients and make balls.

2. Shallow fry them in 1 tbs oil so they tightens and do not break easily.

Ingredients for curry

onions (blended) 2 medium

ginger/ garlic paste 2 tbs

dry fenugreek leaves 2–3 tbs (soaked for 20 minutes in water)

red chilli powder 2 tbs

salt (keeping in mind that meatballs also have salt)

garam masala 1 tbs

coriander powder 1 1/2 tbs

turmeric powder 1 tbs

oil 3–4 tbs

lemon and coriander leaves for garnishing

Method for Making curry

1. In a pan add the blended onions, pre-soaked fenugreek leaves, ginger/garlic paste and let them come to boil. Add 2–3 cups of water if using beef mince (No need to add any water for chicken as it also gets half cooked while shallow frying.
2. Now add all spices.
3. Add meatballs and cook till the water evaporates completely and the meatballs starts sticking at the base of the pan.
4. Now add oil and fry the meatballs gently till a roasted aroma is released.
5. At this stage the curry is in very dried form. You can add a bit of water to make the curry smooth and flowing and also if you are planning to have it with naan (which tastes divine by the way).
6. After you reach the desired texture, dish out, garnish it with garam masala, lemon and coriander leaves.

Important tips to remember:

1. Mince meat should be finely ground with no fat.
2. The meatballs tend to break easily, so before putting them in the curry, shallow fry them, so they gets tightened and bound and won't break. Broken meatballs look unappetizing.
3. The above recipe is for 1/2 kg mince, but you can double the portions and freeze half of the meatballs for later use.
4. If using frozen meatballs, take them out like 12 hours before cooking. Defrost them under room temperature. Once they get soft, reshape them into balls as they lose their shape while being frozen.