Thai Meatball Curry

Whenever I have minced meat in the fridge it invariably gets turned into Bolognese sauce, chilli or maybe a cottage pie.  There’s nothing wrong with any of those dishes, but I wanted to do something different this time.  I had a portion of minced pork (just over 450g) left over from another recipe plus a can of coconut milk in the cupboard, and decided to go the Thai curry route.  You could make it with beef mince if you have that, but I think pork creates a richer dish.  It can be as hot as you want it.  I didn’t add any chillies, so it was only the paste creating the heat, and as a result you have a mild curry which is sweet from the coconut milk and very child friendly.  If you like it hotter feel free to add some chopped fresh chilli to the meatball mixture or fry some off along with the paste.  It’s a really easy mid-week dinner too.  You can make the meatballs in advance, even the night before, and then you just add them to the sauce which is really quick to make.

Ingredients for 4 people

For the meatballs
450-500g pork mince
1 small/medium onion finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp. cumin seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1 tsp tumeric
1 slice stale or fresh bread to make breadcrumbs.
salt & pepper
1 medium bunch fresh coriander roughly chopped

For the curry sauce
2 heaped tsps. Thai red curry paste
1 x 400ml can coconut milk
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tsp. sugar
2 handfuls frozen peas
chopped fresh coriander and lime wedges to garnish

Start by making the meatballs.  Add the cumin and coriander seeds to a dry frying pan and heat through for a minute or so just to lightly toast.  Shake the pan occasionally so they don’t burn.  Add the pork, onion, toasted cumin & coriander, tumeric, egg and fresh coriander to a bowl.  Whizz a slice of bread in a processor to create breadcrumbs, or use a generous handful of ready made ones if you have those.  Mix everything together with your hands until everything is evenly dispersed.  Start making the meatballs; you are aiming for smaller than golf ball bite size meatballs that will cook quickly.  This mixture should make about 30 meatballs.  When they are complete, chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Add a little oil to a shallow pan and heat to medium/high.  Fry the meatballs in 2 batches to brown them evenly.  This should take about 5 minutes per batch, they don’t have to cook through as they will finish off in the sauce.  Remove browned meatballs to one side, and add a little more oil to the pan if needed and fry the curry paste for 1-2 minutes.  The sauce is easy and quick, so have everything ready to hand before you begin.  Pour in the coconut milk and stir well to incorporate the paste and turn the sauce orangey-red.  Add the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar and stir in.  Re-introduce the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to a low simmer for about 10 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.  After about 5 minutes of simmering add the frozen peas.  Serve over rice and garnish with fresh coriander and a lime wedge.