Meat Ball Curry

"What in the world?" you might say. Could it be that our recently turned health advocate is posting this obviously loaded recipe, trying to pass it off as healthy? I get it, I get it. Still, what I am about to tell you just might boggle the mind. Or not!  as my son says to most anything lately:-) By the way, middle school can be tricky and I am glad he is managing well so far.

There is no concrete evidence, but based on the different cuisines I have tried after coming here I would say the Indian curry evolved into its current state through a path that is more medicinal than culinary. If we search long enough there should be many articles attesting to this. Who else in their right mind would dig for a turmeric or ginger root under the ground, then clean, dry and pulverize it just to put a 1/4 tsp or so into what you are cooking unless it's been prescribed as necessary? In most other cuisines the main food itself is the star. Its taste not made obsolete by the presence of overpowering spices. When done in moderation even outsiders will be able to enjoy Indian food. When we go out for lunch from work no one votes for Indian food. The consensus is that the food is so heavy that once you have it you have to go home to sleep instead of going back to work:-) It is slowly changing with all the new awareness on Indian food here through blogs and cooking shows. Those who grew up on Indian food don't really realize this comparative heaviness because from childhood our tastebuds and psyche have been conditioned to acknowledge these flavors as "the food".  The whole enchilada of Indian cooking with spices must have originated from the rich and ancient ayruvedic/medicinal traditions that India has which first trickled into and later flooded mainstream cooking. I can proselytize all I want but when the taste bud is looking for authentic Indian taste it will not bow down to the milder versions that easily.

So how does this help? Since I have established that it is medicinal rather than culinary, spicy really means healthy and therefore good for you:-) Good. eh? It is the chili, oil and salt that you need to be careful about and everything else is fair game unless you have specific allergies. So when my son's friend's Mom from Tamilnadu talked about her awesome meatball curry I didn't have to put the thought aside with regret because of this enlightenment.. This meatball curry also appears in a cookbook (Veettammakkoru Kaithoozhi)  by Sr. Dolores Kannampuzha that my HMom had sent long ago. I followed my friend's recipe as well as the book to get where we are. The red meat in question falls into the eat in moderation category and keeping it there is what enabled us to go for this with glee.

In The Mix

For The Meatballs
ground beef - 1 lb.
red onion - 1 medium sized
ginger - 1 " piece
green chili - 5
cinnammon, cardamom, cloves powder mixed in equal measures  - 1/2 tsp
egg - 1
bread crumbs - little less than 1/2 cup

For the Gravy

medium red onion - 1 sliced
ginger - 1" piece sliced thin
green chili  sliced in rounds - 2 or more as needed
curry leaves - 1 sprig
coriander powder - 4 to 5 tbsp
turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp (what did i say?)
black pepper powder - 1 tsptomato - 1 medium diced
potatoes - 1 big cubed small
coconut milk - 1 cup from can diluted with 1.5 to 2 cups of water
warm milk - 3/4 cup
salt - as needed (1 tsp is all it took!)

 How To do
Chop the ginger, chili and onion for meatball finely in a chopper or by hand. Add to the ground meat in a bowl. Break the egg into this and mix all together. Add in the powders,  bread crumbs, salt and combine. Now roll into small balls the size of gooseberries and keep aside.

For the gravy, heat oil in a pan and add onion, ginger, green chili, curry leaves and saute well. Add curry  powders and 1/4 cup water to mix all together. Add diced tomatoes and saute for a while. Now add potatoes and saute together in medium to low heat.

Once the aroma starts rising add diluted coconut milk and salt as needed. Remember to be done with all your stirring needs by now as we don't want to upset the applecart once those delicate balls are added. Add more hot water at this stage if needed and boil everything. Once you are ready for the deed and identified enough space in the gravy to add meatball, start doing just that. Add the balls gently and one by one. If you need to combine the balls don't use a spoon. Rotate the pan on its handles as needed. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until meat balls and potatoes are cooked. Now add the warm milk and gently boil before removing from heat. Of course give it a small whirl to get all mixed up well. Pour over hot soft rice and dig in! I haven't tried it but it must be good company for our Appam. Hmm..  Yum..Maybe next time.