Shallow fried meatballs, then simmered until cooked with nutty coconut curry sauce – a very tasty dish that goes well with white rice!
I know that you experience that feeling that there are recipes that will never leave your mind… even when you are about to sleep. 😀
This recipe is just one of those many recipes floating in my brain and I must say that it’s been there long time ago.
I think the reason of not making this sooner is… the time I saved this recipe, I was just beginning to explore some ingredients and afraid to use them at the same time.
I’ve lost contact with Liz for some time, but when I saw her name on the WordPress reader again, I immediately remembered this recipe I’ve been dying to try.
I was supposed to make homemade Thai red curry paste, but time did not permit me to. If only I could tell my boss – ‘Sir, can I take one day off because I want to make authentic homemade Thai red curry paste?‘…but I don’t want him to kick me out. So I didn’t. Instead, I got one from the local grocery store and finally made this dish.
Thai red curry paste is a fiery paste that is essential in Thai cooking. The said paste consists of red chilies, coriander roots, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime peel, cumin and coriander powder. There are variations that use shrimp paste as well. The paste is achieved by grinding the ingredients using mortar and pestle. Using a food processor is also okay, but the labor of love in grinding them by the traditional way will give you the best results. Ahhh – this makes me want to make my own, seriously. Maybe one day! 😉
Going back to the recipe…
The meatballs are lightly browned in a little oil, then dunked into the creamy, delicious sauce which consists of Thai red curry paste, curry powder, peanut butter and coconut milk. And take note – I used freshly squeezed coconut milk from freshly grated coconut milk. I am not a big fan of canned coconut milk. When it comes to coconut milk, I prefer it fresh most of the times, depending on the recipe.
The dish came out really good – so tasty and so full of amazing flavors! Of course, I served it on top of hot jasmine rice. Oh so yummy! 😀 I added another tablespoon of peanut butter and it gave me a thicker sauce, which I really loved. I love peanut butter based sauces, so that would explain why. 😉
Meatballs in Nutty Coconut Curry Sauce
Ingredients:
For the meatballs:
- 500g ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 tbsp ginger, grated
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp pepper, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
For the sauce:
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 3 tbsp Thai red curry paste
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 4 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 beef cube dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Coriander, for garnish
Instructions:
- In a bowl, combine ingredients for the meatballs except for the cooking oil and mix using your clean hands. Shape into small balls.
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, add cooking oil. Fry meatballs until brown. Place them over a stack of kitchen towels. Set aside. (I browned the top and bottom sides only and it worked just fine. Make sure not too let them stay in the skillet for a long time or else you’ll get tough meatballs.)
Meanwhile, make the sauce –
- In a large cooking pan with medium heat, add cooking oil. When hot, add in chopped onions and cook for about 3-5 minutes.
- Add in Thai red curry paste and curry powder. Mix thoroughly until fragrant.
- Add peanut butter and water with beef cubes. Mix until peanut butter is dissolved, then add coconut milk. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the meatballs to the sauce and stir carefully to coat. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes, making sure to stir from time to time to avoid from sticking.
- Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
- Add chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve with white rice.
Source recipe: Meatballs in Nutty Coconut Curry by My Favourite Pastime
Wishing you a day full of smiles! 😀 😀 😀
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