Turmeric Cardamom Meatballs With Curry Gravy

Turmeric Cardamom Meatballs With Curry Gravy

Blending South Asian flavors with an East Coast staple? Veda has taken a refreshing look on meatballs! Packed full of earthy flavors like turmeric and brightened by cardamom, these are sure to be a knockout. This dish pairs easily with a coconut ginger leek rice side dish. Relish in the gravy and consider this another win for flavor! 

Ingredients

For the Meatballs

• 1 lb ground pork or beef

Blend

• 1 leek (white part thinly sliced- keep green part aside)
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp Jalsa Spice mix (Veda's signature blend) or Mumbai Spice Company garam masala
• ⅛ tsp finely crushed cardamom
• ¼ tsp Mumbai Spice Company Turmeric
• 2 thai green chilis (use less to reduce spiciness)
• ½ large roma tomato
• Salt
• Sprinkle of brown sugar

Soak

• 2 pieces of white bread
• ½ cup milk
• ¼ tsp Mumbai Spice Company Turmeric

To combine with ground meat

• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tbsp softened butter

Instructions

1. Combine the ground pork, blended mixture, egg yolk, and softened butter.
2. Squeeze excess liquid out of the bread and to the meat mixture, gently combining everything.
3. Grease hands with some ghee and form into golf ball-sized meatballs (makes approximately 36)
4. Heat a heavy-bottomed pan. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and saute until meatballs are browned. 
5. Drain cooked meatballs on a paper towel covered plate. Then, remove oil and butter from the pan, leaving only enough needed to make a roux.

Instructions For Gravy

1. Add 2 tbsp flour to the pan with a little bit of the oil left from cooking the meatballs. Stir and make the roux. 
2. Before the roux burns, add 1 cup of chicken broth (or other broth of choice) and stir. Then add 1 more cup of broth stirring to remove any lumps.
3. Add 1 – 1 ½  tsp Jalsa spice mix or garam masala, salt, and 1 tsp brown sugar.
4. Stir and simmer until gravy thickens. Then add ⅓ cup half and half and simmer for an additional 1-2 minutes until correct gravy consistency is reached. 
5. Add the cooked meatballs back into the gravy and gently combine.
6. Serve with coconut ginger leek rice.

Instructions For Coconut Ginger Leek Rice

1. In a rice cooker, add 2 cups Jasmine rice, 2 cups coconut milk, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 tsp ground ginger paste, green parts of leek cut in half and sliced lengthwise, and salt. Stir and cook until rice is done. 

Veda Sankaran 

Recipe Developer - Owner Jalsa By Veda

Veda is an Indian American mom, wife, teacher, and business woman living in Pittsburgh. Her professional background is in education, but she developed a love of food after 20+ years of cooking for her family. She cooks traditional Indian food, and her strength lies in creativity. She can take spices and flavors of Indian cuisine and use them to create new and unique recipes. Through constant recipe development and creating menus for local pop up dinners in Pittsburgh, she gives reigns to her creativity to use food as a medium for exploring the many facets of identity.

Find her on instagram @jalsabyveda