Here’s another great recipe based on one from Singapore Cooking by Terry Tan and Christopher Tan. This time it’s using beef, but if I were to make these again, I’d use ground pork, ‘cuz it tastes better.
This is a pretty simple recipe that doesn’t call for many hard-to-get ingredients, except in my case, curry leaves. The only place that sells these locally is 10 miles out of my way. For this recipe, I actually skipped them.
The best part of this dish is the creamy curry sauce, which goes perfect with Asian noodles or rice.
What you’ll need for the meatballs:
- 3 lb ground beef (maybe skip the ultra-lean option)
- 1t salt
- 0.25 cups chopped onion
- 1 or 2 green chilis, finely chopped
What you’ll need for the curry sauce:
- 2T neutral oil
- 3T chopped garlic
- 1t grated ginger or ginger paste
- 12-15 curry leaves
- 1-inch piece lemongrass
- 1t chili powder
- 2t ground fennel
- 2t ground coriander
- 1t turmeric
- 4T tamarind concentrate
- 2 cups coconut milk or coconut cream
- 1t salt (optional)
What to do:
Using your hands, mix the ground beef (or whatever meat you use), salt, chopped onions and green chilis. Don’t over-mix, or the meatballs will be tough. Form the mixture into meatballs.
To make the curry cream, heat the oil in a medium high-sided frypan or medium saucepan and add the garlic, ginger, curry leaves and lemongrass. Fry until fragrant.
Next, add all of the powdered spices and continue to fry for about 3 more minutes. Add the tamarind pulp, coconut milk and salt (if using). Now add the meatballs and bring to a simmer. Cook until the meatballs are cooked through.
Serve over rice or asian noodles.
Leave a Reply