Meatball Rezala

Servings: 4 - 6

Ingredients:

• Ground Beef - 2 lb (1 kg),
• Onion - 1 med, 1/2 of it thinly sliced
  
• Green Chili - 6, (3 sliced & seeds removed if you do not like the heat)
  
• Garlic cloves - 4
  
• Ginger root - 1 inch (to yield 1 tsp in paste)
• Ghee/ Clarified Butter - 4 tbsp
• Hot spice Powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
  
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Plain yogurt - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 2 tbsp (or to taste, the dish is meant to be on the sweet side)
• Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - 1.5 tsp
  

Methods:

• 1. In a food processor, blend 3 chilies, garlic, ginger to form a rough mince. In a bowl, mix in the ground beef with 1 tsp salt, pepper, hot spice powder, cumin, coriander powder and the minced aromatics. Form tennis ball size meatballs and refrigerate for minimum of 1/2 hour to up to 2 hours.
• 2. Meanwhile, in the blender, blend the remaining garlic, ginger and half of the unsliced onion into a puree.
• 3. In a bowl, beat the yogurt with the sugar and set aside.
  
• 5. In a heavy base non-stick pan, saute the meatballs, in batches, until you get a brown coating. Make sure not to cook it all the way through, as it will finish cooking in the gravy. Remove and let it rest on a plate.
  
• 6. Clean the pan off with a paper towel to remove the fat released from the meatballs. Add the ghee/butter to the pan and heat.
  
• 7. Add the sliced half of the onion to the pan, and 1/2 tsp of the salt. Saute till translucent.
• 8. Add the yogurt mixture and simmer on med heat for 4-5 min. Return the meatballs to the pan along with the milk. When adding the milk, make sure to remove your pan from heat, and then once stirred in properly, return it on the heat. This will stop the milk from breaking.
• 9. Add the remaining 3 chilies. Simmer the meatballs on low-med heat for about 35-40 min or until the milk evaporates and the ghee separates to create a thick shiny white gravy. Serve with Polao or Nutmeg Rice.

Kofta Curry

Servings 4- 6

Ingredients:

• Ground Sirloin - 1.5 lb (750 gm)*
• Onion - 1 med, finely chopped
  
• Tomatoes - 1/2 lb, chopped finely, reserving their juices
  
• Plain Yogurt - 1 cup (full cream)**
  
• Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp (I prefer freshly made paste or crushed for full flavour)
• Garlic Cloves - 3, crushed
• Green chili - 2-3, seeded and crushed
• Salt - 2 tsp
• Black pepper - 1 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Ground Cumin - 1/2 tsp
• Ground Coriander - 1 tsp
• Hot spice powder - 1 tsp**

Methods:

• 1. In a bowl mix in the garlic, ginger , chili, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp of oil with the ground meat. Do not over work the meat as that will result in hard meatballs when cooked. I use a fork to mix in the ingredients with the meat rather than smashing them with my fingers.
• 2. Form the meat into round balls, the recipe should yield about 20-25 balls. Cover them with a plastic wrap and chill for at least 1/2 hour to 2 hours.
• 3. When ready to cook, heat 2 tbsp of oil in a deep base pan, add the onions and the remaining salt and pepper. Saute till the onions turn brown on the edges.
  
• 4. Add the tomatoes with their juices and saute for about 5-6 min. Add the cumin, coriander, hot spice powder and the sugar. Stir to combine.
• 5. Add 1 cup of hot water and simmer on med heat for about 6-10 min, till the tomatoes turn soft and gooey. Remove the pan from top of the heat and stir in the yogurt. If you add the yogurt to the pan while keeping it on heat, the yogurt will break.
  
• 6. Return the pan to the heat. Add 1 cup of hot water. Take the meatballs out of the fridge and gently place each onto the sauce.
  
• 7. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 1.5 hours to 2 hours. Stirring occasionally to avoid burning at the bottom. The final gravy will be thick and rich. Serve with naan/flat bread or even on a bed of rice or pasta and a salad.
• Simply bellissimo !!

Hints:
* You can also use ground chuck or even chicken. However, I prefer sirloin since it is the leanest and works best with this dish.
** I prefer using the full cream yogurt as this dish does not require much oil to cook. So the full cream yogurt gives it a rich body. However, for a more diet version you can use fat-free yogurt, but you will be sacrificing the flavour a bit.
***I make my own hot spice powder by first toasting the whole spices (cardamon, cinnamon, cloves) on a skillet and then grinding them into powder. However, store bought hot spice powder will do fine. The store bought mix usually includes powder of cardamon, cinnamon, cloves, fenugreek, and mustard seeds.

Spaghetti Meatballs

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Spaghetti - 1 lb
• Canned Crushed Tomato - 1 lb (450gm)
• White Vinegar - 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 1 tbsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Ground Nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
  
• Green Beans - 1 cup, cut in 1 inch pieces.
• Onion - 1 lrg, finely chopped
• Parmesan cheese - 1 cup, grated
• Italian/flat leaf parsley - 1 cup, finely chopped
• 
  
• For the meatballs:
• Ground Beef - 1 lb
• Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp
• Garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Jalapeno - 1, finely diced
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Italian seasoning - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp

Methods:

• 1. Mix everything together for the meatballs. Form into balls, 1 lb beef should make about 20 balls. Cover and refrigerated for about 1/2 hour- 2 hours max, for the ingredients to settle together.
  
• 2. Meanwhile, in a large pot heat 3 tbsp of oil, add the onions and saute till translucent.
• 3. Add the canned tomato, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir to combine and simmer on low-med heat for about 10 min, stirring occasionally.
• 4. Add 2 cups of hot water, cover and simmer on low-med heat for 20 min.
• 5. Meanwhile, take the meatballs out of the refrigerator and saute them on a non-stick pan for about 3-5 min, turning the meatballs to brown all over. You do not need to add any oil to the pan, since the meatballs, as soon as they hit the heated pan, will release the fat content and that will the allow enough lubricant for the meatballs to be sauteed.

• 6. Brown the meatballs in batches, so that it will not release too much juice to be stewed. You are not looking for the meatballs to be fully cooked. They need to be sauteed just to create that charred up look. Once all the meatballs have been browned all over, transfer them to the tomato sauce.
  
• 7. After adding the meatballs, cover and simmer the tomato sauce on low heat for about 30 min to let the meatballs finish cooking. Add 1 cup of water if the sauces tend to thickened too much. Stir the sauce occasionally to avoid lumping.
  
• 8. Add the spaghetti and the green beans to the meatball sauce. Stir to combine, simmer on low-med heat for about 15-20 min, or till the spaghetti and the beans are cooked through.
• 9. Serve the spaghetti with 5 meatballs for each serving, topped with a generous amount of grated Parmesan cheese and the chopped parsley.