Kashmiri lamb meatballs with prunes
- Published: 21 May 19
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
It might look like a terrifying long list of ingredients in this kashmiri lamb recipe (also known as aloo bukhara kofta) but it’s really not much more than throwing a few things together and letting the flavours mingle.
Prefer chicken? We’ve got a kashmiri butter chicken recipe that’s well worth a cook.
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Serves 4
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Hands-on time 25 min, simmering time 35-40 min
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds, finely ground in a pestle and mortar
- 6 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and finely crushed
- 3 black cardamom pods, seeds removed and finely crushed
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tbsp kashmiri chilli powder or hot (unsmoked) paprika
- 500g British organic lamb mince
- 1 medium free-range egg, beaten
- 10 pitted prunes
For the sauce
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 3 green cardamom pods
- ¼ tsp ground asafoetida (optional; see Know-how)
- ¾ tbsp kashmiri chilli powder or hot (unsmoked) paprika
- 2 tbsp fennel seeds, finely ground in a pestle and mortar
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste or lime juice to taste (see Know-how)
- Plain yogurt, fresh coriander and basmati rice to serve
Method
- For the meatballs, mix the ground spices, mince and beaten egg in a bowl. Season, then shape into 12 equal balls. Flatten each in your palm and press a prune into the middle, wrapping the mince mixture around to seal the prune inside.
- For the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the whole spices. Once they start to pop, turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool a little. Stir in the asafoetida, then add the kashmiri chilli powder/paprika and cook, stirring, for 5-10 seconds.
- Turn the heat back up to medium. Add the meatballs and cook, turning, until brown all over (about 5 minutes). Add the remaining ground spices, fry until fragrant, then pour over 500ml water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid and check the sauce – it should have thickened slightly, with a red slick of oil running through it. Give it another 10-15 minutes without the lid if it seems too thin. Add the tamarind paste/lime juice to taste, then serve drizzled with plain yogurt, fresh coriander and plain basmati rice.
- Recipe from April 2019 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 433kcals
- Fat
- 31g (6.7g saturated)
- Protein
- 25.9g
- Carbohydrates
- 11.15g (4.7g sugars)
- Fibre
- 3.4g
- Salt
- 0.7g
delicious. tips
Make the meatballs up to a day ahead, cover and keep in the fridge. Leftovers will keep covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat until piping hot to serve.
Tamarind paste, made from the pods of the tamarind tree, has a sour, tangy flavour. Asafoetida is a dried, ground root with a pungent aroma that disappears with cooking. Find both in larger supermarkets. If you can’t find asafoetida, you can leave it out.
Pick a juicy, ripe and smooth pinot noir, ideally from Chile or Australia.
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This was delicious. At the end of cooking I took out the meatballs and reduced the sauce further. I didn’t have enough fennel seeds and research led me to use half the amount of aniseed I would have used for the rest of the fennel to make it up. It may seem like a great deal of spice, particularly the cumin; but it actually works very well.