CS Indian Butter Chicken Meatballs
Entrees, Low Point
Ingredients
Basmati Rice:
Water - 1 3/4 cups
Rice, uncooked basmati - 1 cup
Garam masala - 4 tsp
Coriander, ground - 2 tsp
Curry powder, mild - 2 tsp
Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 4 cloves, chopped
Ginger, fresh - 1 Tbsp, grated
Butter - 3 Tbsp (sub ghee)
Tomatoes, crushed (14 oz / 397 g) - 2 cans
Stock, any type - 1/2 cup
Half and half - 1/2 cup
Indian Chicken Meatballs:
Chicken, ground - 1 lb (sub ground turkey)
Eggs - 1
Panko breadcrumbs - 1/3 cup
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
Indian Meatball Curry:
Cauliflower - 1 lb, florets
Indian Butter Curry Sauce (ingredients listed separately) - ~2 1/2 cups
Indian Chicken Meatballs (ingredients listed separately) - ~20
Baby spinach - 5 oz
Cilantro leaves - 1/4 cup
Yogurt, plain or Greek (opt) - 1/4 cup
Directions
Make rice - (Skip if made ahead for Monday.) Fill a saucepan with water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and then add rice. Bring to a simmer, cover, turn heat down to low, and cook until rice has absorbed all the liquid, 15 to 18 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
Make Indian spice blend - Combine garam masala (portion for sauce), ground coriander, curry powder, and red pepper flakes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
Cauliflower / Garlic / Ginger - Prep as directed. Store cauliflower in one container. Combine garlic and ginger in another container. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
Make meatballs - Combine chicken, eggs, panko, garam masala (portion for meatballs), salt, and black pepper. Gently mix together with a spoon or with your hands. Form into 1” / 2.5 cm balls. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
Pre-cook cauliflower - Place cauliflower florets in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel and steam until nearly tender, 2 to 3 minutes.
Heat a Dutch oven or large saute pan over medium heat. Add oil and then meatballs to heated oil. Cook meatballs on all sides until light golden brown (but not cooked all the way through), 6 to 8 minutes. Set meatballs aside and return pan to heat.
To heated pan add butter. When butter melts, stir in spice blend, garlic, and ginger and cook until fragrant, ~1 minute.
Pour tomatoes and stock over aromatics, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Cover and simmer sauce for 10 minutes to develop flavor.
Taste sauce and season with some salt if needed. Remove 1 1/2 cups / 400 mL of sauce and reserve for Thursday’s pizza (for 4 servings; adjust if customizing).
To remaining sauce, stir in half and half. Add meatballs and cover. Simmer meatballs in sauce until cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more.
Gently stir cauliflower and spinach into sauce. Cover and cook until spinach is fully wilted, ~2 minutes more.
If rice was made ahead, reheat in the microwave.
Serve meatballs and sauce over rice. Tear cilantro leaves to serve on top. Enjoy with yogurt.
Nutrition
Saturated Fat 7g
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 152mg
Sodium 613mg