Hand on heart - this is currently my favourite family curry. It's a perfect winter curry dish and although a little more time consuming than my other curries, it's well worth the extra time. I know "curry" isn't the first thing that comes into your head when the word "meatballs" is mentioned, trust me, this really does work. The basic ingredients are fairly simple - meatballs made with minced beef and onion, some carrot, red pepper and brocccoli for vegetable nutrition and fibre and some Golden curry cubes with added cumin and coriander. The secret to the success of this dish is in the meatballs. I add a teapoon of curry powder to them when I make them. That way, when you are eating your curry, you get a nice sweet and spicy Japanese curry sauce and then, suddenly, an extra hit of spice and heat when you bite into the meatballs. The meatballs are cooked for a little while separate to the other ingredients so that they are already firm when you make up your curry sauce - that way, the meat balls don't break up. Other than that, the steps to make this are much the same as any other Japanese curry and the results, as I say, are well worth the extra effort. I used Golden brand curry cubes for this recipe but I have also used Java brand cubes to make it - both work well so don't think you need to use Golden brand for this to work. When your ead through the recipe, you may ask yourself, why add the curry cubes in stages? I do this becauseI have found that if you put in too many cubes at once, one or two may sink and stick to the bottom. So, I add them in stages so I can mix them in more easily as they dissolve.
If you want to try a curry winter warmer, this one should definitely be on your shortlist! You can find the written recipe below. For the Youtube tutorial either click Golden Meatball Curry or scroll to the bottom of the page.
Happy cooking, Kurumi XXXX.
ingredients:
(serves 4)
for the meat balls:
1/2 medium onion
5g fresh coriander
500g minced beef
1 tsp garlic puree (or chopped garlic)
1 tsp ginger puree (or chopped ginger)
1 tsp mild curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
a little pepper
2 tbsp sunflower oil
for the curry:
1/2 medium onion
150g carrot
1 bell pepper
8 small broccoli florets
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp garlic puree
1 tsp ginger puree
1 tsp cumin powder
600ml water
1 tsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp tomato ketchup
6 pieces Golden curry roux cubes
how to:
to make the meatballs, first slice & mince the 1/2 onion. chop the fresh coriander leaves finely
put the minced beef in a bowl, add the minced onion, chopped coriander, 1 tsp of garlic, 1 tsp of ginger, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of curry powder & pepper. give everything a good mix, then use your hand to knead the mixture into a nice firm ball - this should take about 1 minute
next, take a dessertspoonful of the minced beef and use the palms of your hands to roll it into a small ball (a bit smaller than a golf ball.) repeat until all the mince mixture is used up
heat 2 tbsp of sunflower oil in a frying pan. fry the meatballs over a medium heat for 3 minutes, turning them around the balls so they are sealed all over
now to make the curry sauce. chop the 1/2 onion finely, peel & slice the carrot, deseed & cut the bell pepper into small bite sized pieces. if your broccoli florets are on the large side, cut into smaller, bite sized pieces
heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a large saucepan. add the chopped 1/2 onion, garlic & ginger.
fry for 1 min
add the cumin powder and stir, then add the carrot and the water. bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a simmer
carefully add the meatballs and bell pepper. add 2 cubes of Golden curry roux. simmer for 10 mins
next, add the soy sauce, tomato ketchup and 4 more Golden curry cubes. simmer for a further 10 minutes, stirring until all the cubes have dissolved and you have a thick sauce
last, add the broccoli florets, turn the heat down and cook 3-4 minutes more.
your Golden Meatball Curry is ready. serve with rice of your choice.