Creamy Coconut Curry Meatballs

Ingredients

Coconut Curry Sauce

• 300 ml coconut milk 1 small can
• 300 ml water
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 medium sized fresh tomatoes
• 1 large yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1.5 tablespoons fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro plus more for garnish
• 2 red chillies or half a fresh jalapeno
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons curry powder or to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Meatballs

• 900 grams ground beef or substitute other ground meat
• 1 red onion finely diced
• 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 0.5 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic mashed
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
• 1-2 hot red chillies finely sliced and seeds removed
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1.5 teaspoons salt

Garnish (optional)

• 3 tablespoons sauce
• 3 tablespoons mascarpone or cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro finely chopped

Instructions

• Prepare the coconut curry sauce

  Sauté the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in the coconut oil over medium-high heat until fragrant. Then add the vegetables, coconut milk, water, salt and curry powder. Heat on high until just starting to bubble, and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes.
• Prepare the meatballs

  While the coconut curry sauce is simmering, mix all the meatball ingredients in a bowl until evenly combined and then shape into golf-ball sized meatballs.
• Blend the coconut curry sauce

  Once the vegetables are soft, remove from heat and let cool for 5 minutes then blend until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference (more salty, more spicy etc.)
• Cook the meatballs in the sauce

  Return the sauce back to the skillet. If it's too thin, add up to a ½ cup of water keeping in mind that it will reduce more as the meatballs simmer. Turn the heat on medium and once the sauce is lightly bubbling*, add the meatballs. Cook for 5 minutes on one side and then gently flip each meatball. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 20-25 minutes. When finished cooking, add the fresh cilantro and gently stir into incorporate.
• Garnish

  Spoon out 2-3 tablespoons of the cooking sauce and mix it with  2-3 tablespoons of mascarpone or cream cheese. You may want to use a fork to mix the mascarpone/cream cheese before combining it with the sauce so you can get a really smooth cream that's free of lumps. If it's still too thick to drizzle, add a couple teaspoons water. Drizzle this on the meatballs in a swirl and them sprinkle on the remaining chopped fresh cilantro.

Notes

*  The meatballs should be added to hot sauce so they set immediately and keep their shape.