Beef, One Dish, Spicy

Giant Spiced Meatballs in Rice

Posted by wyoung on

This is a recipe from Jamie Oliver’s “One Pan Wonders”…you can find his original on his website. I didn’t alter it much except to cool down the heat a bit. Everyone here loved it. Even the pickiest eater liked it.

Ingredients

  • olive oil
  • Can of Lentils (400g) DRAINED
  • Ground lamb (500g) *see note
  • 4 tablespoons Madras curry paste *see note
  • 4 fresh red chilies
  • Basmati rice (300g)
  • Frozen spinach (400g)
  • 6 teaspoons mango chutney
  • 4 tablespoons plain yogurt

Directions

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6. Rub a 9×13 roasting tray with a little olive oil.
  • Add the lentils, the meat, curry paste and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper in a big bowl and then use your hands to mix it up until really well mixed.
  • Divide into 6 equal portions and shape into giant balls, placing them in your tray. Poke a hole in the chilies and add them to the pan around the meatballs. Place tray in oven for 20 minutes.
  • Remove the tray from the oven and take the chilies out for a moment. Sprinkle the rice around the balls, pour in 600 ml of BOILING water and poke in the frozen spinach. Place the chillies back on top, cover tightly with tin foil and return to the oven for 20 minutes.
  • Pull out the tray, lift up the foil and use a fork to stir the spinach into the rice. Re-cover and return to the oven for a final 20 minutes, or until the rice is fluffy.

    To Serve: Uncover the tray, brush the top of each meatball with 1 teaspoon of mango chutney, fluff up the rice and spinach, maybe add a little salt and pepper if you like, then finely slice and sprinkle over some of the cooked chilies, to taste. Serve with dollops of yogurt and extra mango chutney, if you like.

NOTES: I used “meatloaf mix” from the grocery store which is ground beef, pork and veal. I find it makes for juicier meatballs and meatloaf. Madras Curry Paste is available in Target, and other places, or you can get it on line. What’s the difference between it and just “red curry paste” you ask? Madras is a just a LITTLE hotter than the mass market stuff you can find on the “Asian Foods” aisle at your grocery store. But if you want to use the mass market stuff it will be just as good,.