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Delicious lamb meatballs in a spiced tomato sauce – perfect for a family meal or a curry tapas party.
Did you know that it’s National Curry Week from the 9th-15th October 2017?
To celebrate, Tasty Easy Lamb challenged me to create a delicious lamb curry, but not just any curry… I had to create something that’s perfect for a curry tapas party. I reckon my lamb meatball curry fits the bill perfectly 🙂
For a tapas party the curry can be served up in little dishes and each meatball skewered onto a cocktail stick. Everyone can then dig in and help themselves to as much as they want.
However, I like my recipes to be as versatile as possible so it’s also perfect to serve as a more substantial meal, with some rice and maybe a naan or two as well (it also goes really well stuffed into one of my naan pittas too).
Making curry for the whole family
In my household we all like varying amounts of spice. The boys don’t like anything hot, whereas I like mine to have a bit of a kick.
This is a problem that I’m sure exists in many families, so I thought I’d share how I get around it so we can all eat the same dinner and have it as spicy as we like.
The sauce for this curry uses a whole green chilli. Normally I’d chop the whole thing, seeds and all, and throw it in. However, to reduce the heat for the boys, I remove the seeds and the white insides (where the heat is) and just chop the green flesh for the flavour. I’ll set aside the insides and then a few minutes before the curry sauce is ready, I’ll set some of the sauce aside for the boys and then add the insides to the pan and simmer for a couple of minutes.
I also tweak the meatballs. For the boys I’ll leave out the chilli powder and chopped red chilli so theirs just has lots of flavour but no heat, whereas mine had a definite kick!
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Lamb Meatball Curry
INGREDIENTS
For the lamb meatballs
- 500 g lamb mince
- 60 ml natural yogurt
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 red chilli
- Salt
For the spice tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 500 g passata
- 1 tbsp tomato pureé
- 1 green chilli
- 1" cube ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp fenugreek
- 1 tsp turmeric
- Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
- Finely chop your onion, green chilli, ginger and garlic.
- Heat your olive oil (1 tbsp) in a medium-sized saucepan. Turn the heat down low and add the chopped onion. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the onion is soft and golden brown in colour. Stir it occasionally to ensure it doesn't burn.
- Add the chopped green chilli, onion and garlic and fry for a minute.
- Add the passata (500g), tomato pureé (1 tbsp), ground cumin (1 tbsp), ground coriander (1 tbsp), fenugreek (1 tsp) and turmeric (1 tsp). Bring to the boil and then simmer for around 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt.
- While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs. Finely chop the red pepper and then put all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl (chopped red chilli, 500g lamb mince, 60ml natural yogurt, 1 tbsp ground cumin, 1 tsp chilli powder and salt - I use about ¼tsp) and mix all of the ingredients together until fully combined.
- Roll the lamb into small meatballs about 1" in diameter (this will make about 40-45).
- Heat a large frying pan on medium heat and then add the meatballs. Fry for a few minutes before turning them and frying them for a few more minutes until they are cooked through.
- Once the sauce and meatballs are cooked, mix them together and serve.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For…
- Corn-Free
- Egg-Free
- Gluten-Free
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are easily available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
Elinor Hill says
That looks so tasty and perfect for cosy nights in.
Steve | Big Stevie Cool Blog says
These look lovely – I usually use pork for meatballs but will switch to lamb next time I think for a change!