Spicy Turkey Meatball Curry

After what can only be a described as a couple weeks of properly stuffing my face I knew the healthy diet would need to start again soon. The yearly post- semester binge kicked off with seven days of ‘a third helping of dessert won’t hurt, I’m on holiday’ buffets in Crete, followed by a weekend of excessive cider consumption at Park Life leading to accidental visits to the Indian food tent. By the time I finally got home and saw the harsh realities of sober day light, it was time to reign in my greedy alter ego. However I wasn’t quite ready to jump straight back into the super food salads, moping around at home with little to do, I still wanted a comforting meal to look forward to in the evening.

So this is where I turned to my good old Indian favourite. There’s nothing that cheers me up quite like a decent spicy curry, so I gave one of our take away favourites a nutritional rejuvenation. Thus, here is my recipe for turkey meatball curry, packed with lots of veg and spice, leaving you with all the satisfaction and none of the guilt!

Ingredients:

•         1 red onion
•         3 cloves of garlic
•         1 chilli
•         1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
•         1 teaspoon each of turmeric, cinnamon, cumin & hot paprika
•         3 teaspoons of curry powder (medium)
•        1 tablespoon of tomato puree
•          400g tin of chopped tomatoes
•          1 chicken stock cube
•          1 yellow pepper
•          1 green pepper
•          500g turkey mince
•          2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
•          1 teaspoon each of ground coriander and ground ginger
•         Several handfuls of fresh spinach

Method:

Start by finely chopping the red onion and place it in a large non-stick pan (I always use a wok) on a medium heat. Whilst the onions are cooking crush the garlic cloves, deseed and finely slice the chilli and grate the fresh root ginger into a bowl. Once the onions have been sizzling away for about 5 minutes add the garlic, chilli and ginger to the pan letting all the ingredients cook for a further few minutes.

Once the onions begin to look soft and the aromas from the ginger are released add all the spices and continually stir the mixture for one or two minutes over the heat. The spices may start to stick to the pan so add in the tomato puree and the chopped tomatoes, then using the can from the tomatoes, add half a tin of water to the pan, along with the chicken stock cube. Take the yellow and green peppers and slice these into around 1cm cubes before adding them to the sauce. Give the pan a really good stir with a wooden spoon so that all the ingredients combine, after a few minutes the sauce should start to simmer, once it’s bubbling away turn the hob onto a low heat and let the sauce cook for around 30 minutes.

Whilst your curry sauce is bubbling away its time to make the turkey meatballs. Add the cumin seeds to a small frying pan and gently toast them for a few minutes over a medium heat until they start to brown. Add the seeds to a large bowl, along with the ground coriander and ginger, turkey mince and a good helping of salt and pepper. Using your hands get stuck in and combine all the ingredients together. Once this is done, wash your hands and place a large baking tray on the side. Using the palm of your hands roll your turkey mixture into 16 ping pong ball sized spheres and place these on the tray (I find that if you get your hands slightly wet the mixture won’t stick to your palms and the meatballs form nicer shapes.)

When finished pop your meatballs under the grill at 200 degrees for around 10 minutes, check that they’re cooked by cutting one in half and making sure that the centre is hot and no longer pink. Once the meatballs are grilled, stir them to the sauce along with a couple handfuls of fresh spinach. Remove the pan from the heat and it’s ready to serve with brown rice. This recipe serves 4 but left overs will keep for a few days in the fridge, try part blending a left over portion with a stick blender to make a healthy and tasty lunchtime soup!