These Persian meatballs are the tastiest meatballs in the world. You will never make it any other way.
I love “Swedish” meatballs but get tired of it; sometimes, I make Persian meatballs of various kinds. For example, yesterday, I offered my guests Persian curry meatballs (Kofte Kari). There were several who ate it for the first time; they were thrilled. You can make it spicy or mild; the choice is yours! The meatballs are also easy to make. As usual, it is mise en place – measure and chop everything before you start cooking.
In Iran, these meatballs are called kofte kari (Curry meatballs), and they are super tasty; you can serve rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes with this dish. In our home, we usually serve this dish with rice. An excellent choice to serve this when you have guests because I can promise you that not many people have eaten this! In addition, you can prepare it well in advance. This batch gives about 40 meatballs and 1 liter (2 pints) of sauce – so it should be enough for at least six people.
The recipe says minced meat; you can choose beef, lamb, veal, or turkey meat. You also need chopped parsley – if you do not have fresh parsley at home, you can take dried parsley, but you do not need as much! According to Santa Maria, dried herbs are stronger than fresh. A golden rule is that one teaspoon of dried herb spice corresponds to 1 dl of fresh, chopped herb. So if using dried parsley, use one tablespoon in this recipe.
If you want a slightly thicker sauce, you can either mix in a bit more tomato puree (2 – 3 tbsp) or mix l1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp water and add it to the sauce when it boils. Adjust it this way until you are happy with the consistency.
Another thing you can do is peel tomatoes – dice them and add them to the sauce. Allow cooking with the sauce so that they get squinted! We do not do this in Iran – but the food culture changes according to taste 😊
Ingredients for 6 portions
| The meat mixture: | The sauce |
| 500 grams minced meat | 1 yellow onion |
| 1 egg | 2 – 3 Tbsp tomato paste |
| p | 1 1/2 tsp salt |
| 2 tsp salt | 1/4 tsp pepper |
| 0,5 tsp pepper | 1 – 2 Tbsp curry powder |
| 3 Tbsp curry powder | 1/2 – 1 dl lemon juice |
| 2 dl chopped parsley | 1 Tbsp sugar |
| Oil and butter for frying | 7 dl (700 gram) water |
| Oil and butter for frying | |
| NOTE! Please do not take all the curry in the sauce at once. Instead, take a little at a time and taste to suit your taste buds. Curry powder can vary a lot in terms of taste and strength! | |
Method:
The meat:
- Peel the onion and run it in a food processor or a small blender.
- Add eggs and run a few turns so that everything mixes well.
- Pour the egg and onion mixture into a large bowl.
- Add the other ingredients and knead well until the mince is “stringy.”
- Measure the batter with a tablespoon, place it on greaseproof paper or parchment paper.
- Roll the meatballs.
- Heat a frying pan with a little oil and butter when the pan is about (180 ° (C) or 356 ° (F), you can put in the meatballs and fry them for 5 – 6 minutes while keeping them in the fridge while you prepare the sauce.
The sauce:
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Fry the onion in a thick-bottomed saucepan for 5 – 7 minutes-
- Add spices and tomato puree and stir so that everything mixes well.
- Add about 7 dl of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for about 15 minutes, taste, correct the seasoning. Add a little squeezed lemon at a time!
- Let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes. You can do all this in good time. Then, about 30 minutes before serving, you can take out the meatballs and add them to the sauce.
- Bring to a boil and then simmer for a while so that the meatballs taste the sauce vice versa.
Serve with Persian rice and yogurt. Choose rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta to serve with this dish.
Enjoy!
