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Ruchik Randhap

Food & Memories of Mangalore

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Mangalorean Meatball Curry (With Coconut)


Contrary to what most non vegetarians choose to believe, it is said that vegetarians never run out of ideas to make new dishes. I totally agree with that. There are a thousand ways to prepare a particular dishes, the more you are exposed to other cuisines, the better it is for you to borrow some ideas and come up with something of your own.
Non vegetarians are not left far behind either. We do have lot of ways to rotate a particular meat and pass it off as a new dish. Meatballs are one of them. You can make them with any kind of meat – chicken, mutton or beef and conjure up something delicious.

 

In my kitchen, meatballs make their appearance when we want something ‘different’ – especially after we are bored of eating the same old meats cooked the same old way. Meatballs are also an interesting way to get fussy eaters eat without a fuss (or that’s what I hope for most of the time). I have tried my hand at making Spaghetti & Meatballs earlier which was well received and this time I decided to go traditional and please the husband as well.

 

Being die hard Mangaloreans we love our Mangalorean style coconut curries – so I don’t promise you anything new in terms of flavour. Just that it is a beautiful curry with coconut and spices made a tad more interesting with the presence of some meatballs (I used beef) swimming in it. Since I enjoy the whole process of making meatballs I can see myself trying out some more dishes in the future. So do come back for some more variety on this blog. For now, try this curry. Eat it with rice or chapathis and let me know how you liked it!

Mangalorean Meat Ball Curry
Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 20 mins | Serves 4

You Need:

  • 1/2 kg minced meat (beef or mutton)
  • 1/4 kg potatoes
  • 1 medium sized onion finely chopped (for the mince balls)
  • 1 medium sized onion finely sliced (for the seasoning)
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • salt to taste

For the masala

  • 1 medium sized onion
  • 3/4th cup grated coconut
  • 7-8 dry red chillies
  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 4 flakes of garlic with skin
  • 5 peppercorns
  • 1 marble size ball of tamarind

For the coconut milk:

  • 1-1/4 packed cups of grated coconut (or about 1/2 a large coconut)

Method:
1. Wash and drain the mince on a fine slotted colander (unless it is freshly made/home made you may need to wash it). Wash and pressure cook the potatoes (with skin) with a little salt, peel and cut into medium size cubes.
2. Extract thick and thin coconut milk from the 1-1/4 cups coconut and keep aside.
3. Heat a tawa/skillet and dry roast the grated coconut, onion, red chillies, coriander & cumin seeds, garlic and peppercorns one by one. Grind all these together with the tamarind to a fine paste using a little water or thin coconut milk.
4. Transfer the minced meat into a large flat bowl, add the finely chopped onion, about 2 tbsp ground masala, salt to taste and mix well. Make lime sized balls out of this mixture and keep aside.
5. Heat ghee/oil in a large pan and fry the sliced onion till golden brown. Add the ground masala and fry on a slow flame till the ghee separates from it. Add the reserved masala water, thin coconut milk, salt to taste and bring it to a boil.
6. Add the minced meal balls and simmer for about 15 minutes (if the meat is tender) or longer till the meat balls are cooked. Add the cooked potatoes, thick coconut milk and give it one boil and turn off the flame.
7. Serve hot with rice or chapathis.


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Comments

  5. Preeti D'Souza says

    Looks very appetizing, I'm going to try this recipe with turkey mince & hopefully it will turn out as good as yours!! Thanks for sharing your recipes…i no longer have to sift through the recipe books for something different…you made it so much easier for us by doing the research. Kudos to you!!

    Reply

  7. Tina Castelino says

    hey, i love your recipes. i tried your chicken green masala and cauliflower sukkha today and it was a hit at the dinner table.
    so i'm just looking through some of your recipes to continue trying every other day. came across this and thought i'd let u know that even anglo-indians have this ball curry which is, i think, pretty much the same recipe but they have it with coconut rice and devil's churtney!! it's a yum combination so thought i'd let u know.

    Reply

  10. JBD says

    Hi Shireen – what's the trick for the meat balls to remain firm without disintegrating? I'm afraid of that. I'd love to make a meatball curry — Joyce

    Reply

  11. Shireen says

    @ Joyce: Well, the mince mixture should be moist enough to let you shape them into meatballs, after that and for this recipe you will be adding to the curry and they will hold shape. Make sure that you don't press them too tight while preparing the meatballs or else they will turn chewy.

    Reply

    • Shireen Sequeira says

      Hi Jessica,

      Sure, you can skip the coconut milk altogether. It adds a nice flavour though. If you won’t be using it, please consider reducing the spice as the curry may turn out too spicy as coconut milk helps tone it down and balance it.

      Reply

  13. Maria. K says

    Hi… just wanted to know before trying whether there is some sort of Garam masala- powder or whole to be added. Pl reply , thanks

    Reply
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