“Nataka Banana Bread. Nimakie!”
“Haujamake egg curry in a long time, siumake?”
“Nikikuletea viatu zako basi this weekend umake meatballs..”
Life with siblings… At home, every request I make of them is usually fulfilled after a trade off of what I will make. My youngest sibling in particular has mastered this! To me, she is my ‘slave’ I send her for everything from water to calling her to hand me my spectacles that are three steps away looool! That is what younger siblings are for, right?To, her I am a food manufacturer, her feeder; lol. But I do not blame her, my food is just too ****ing bomb! It’s a fair trade off. Kinda…. Today’s recipe is here because of her. She has been craving some for a long time and I took the chance to develop a new one. This is about to be your next addiction!! My garlic tandoori masala meatballs will take you to the moon and back!
I made a dope vid to accompany the blog post. Do watch below, and subscribe!
PREP TIME: 40 MIN COOK TIME: 35 MIN SERVES: 7
Ingredients
For the meat
1 kg of minced beef
1 cup of finely chopped dania leaves
7 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of cumin
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
1 tablespoon of coriander powder
1 cup of bread crumbs
2 eggs
For the mchuzi
1 small red onion, chopped
1 cup of spring onion (kitunguu matawi), chopped
7 cloves of garlic
2 tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoons of tandoori masala
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 teaspoon of chili paste
1 cup of plain yoghurt
Finely chopped dania for garnish
Method
Place your minced beef in a bowl. My meat has full fat as I feel it renders better, but if you want to use lean ground beef, feel free. Add the crumbs, eggs, spices, finely chopped dania and garlic. Mix it all together until combined. Make sure the dania are chopped very tiny so that they mix in well. Huge dania pieces will give you a hard time while rolling.
Once everything has come together, proceed to roll into your balls. I find that the ideal size is to roll them about the same size as a plum.Watch my video for a more accurate picture of the size. You can make them bigger or smaller according to your preference though but I like plum-size best.
Proceed to sear them for about 5-8 minutes. Yes, they will cook through in that amount of time and incase you are in doubt, just slice one ball to confirm. You can use any pan; type of pan does not matter- the searing will happen regardless.
A quick sear is best.
I discourage deep frying as it makes the balls too soggy and oily. Just get that good sear on them and once done, set aside.
Let’s start cooking.
In a sufuria, add the red onion, spring onion and the garlic. The street term for spring onion is kitunguu matawi and that too can very easily be accessed at mama mboga.
Allow to cook until fragrant and then add the tomatoes and tomato paste.
Follow this by the spices and the chili, followed by some stock (or some hot water). I used the chili paste by mdalasini relishes, their contacts on my video description box, however any other chili will work.
The star spice of this dish, tandoori masala, along with all the other spices, I purchased from CarreFour. Tandoori masala (brand I used is Nature’s Own) is a key ingredient for this recipe and MUST be there and cannot be swapped for anything else. If you want it to taste as I describe, go and get the spice and make sure you go to a WELL STOCKED SUPERMARKET. The tandoori masala must be used in this recipe.
Allow to simmer until the flavors meld and the tomatoes get mixed in completely. The tomatoes should not remain as huge chunks, they must potelea ndani kabisa. You achieve this by allowing them to simmer for sometime and really cook down. Peep my video on how mine combined well.
After about 15 minutes, add the seared meatballs, then mix them in.
Add the plain yoghurt and gently mix it in. USE ONLY PLAIN YOGHURT!!! Sitaki kuskia in my DMs that you used banana yoghurt na machocolate yoghurt tafadhali! Strictly plain yoghurt.
The purpose of the yoghurt is not only to thicken the stew, but to temper the heat of the spices as well.
Add a tiny bit of stock (or hot water), then let this simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Once done, turn off the heat, garnish with some dania leaves and serve. Don’t you just want to reach out into your screen and eat?
I always know something is exceptionally delicious when it is completely cleared on the same day I make it! My garlic tandoori masala meatballs were demolished and completely cleared same day! But would you really blame my fam! These were perfect!
I had some with chapati for lunch immediately after filming, and for dinner we had them with some spaghetti. And in all honesty, you can have my garlic tandoori masala meatballs with literally any starch!
Do try out this meaty beauty and watch my YouTube video too. Take a billion pictures and tag me on any social media platform and prepare yourself because this is about to be your favorite meatball recipe EVER!!!!
Thank you for being here!
-K
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Hey there! My name is Kaluhi and I love food! Through my blog, I am happy to share with you my self-taught recipes, steeped in nostalgia and the happiest of memories. I hope each recipe you try out is as addictive as the previous one and is shared on a table full of love and hearty laughs!
Am trying this over the weekend!..Thank you again Kaluhi for the comprehensive recipes!
Hope you love it and you are most welcome!!
Looks like a great meatball recipe! Full of flavor and easy to make!
For sure!!
Looks so good!!! 😋
Tastes just as it looks!
These Meatballs look so good! All that flavor and I love using Garlic flavor!
Garlic always wins!!
Man, I can always go for an Indian-inspired dish. So freaking good. I wonder if there’s a way to make this with vegan mince/beef. Hmmm!
I’m sure you will find a way
The meatballs look delicious and your recipe makes them look easy to make!
Hope you do try them out!
Yummy!! yum yum yum
Indeed!
Yooooo! I tried this with naan and it was so good! I left out the chilli but now I know its a must have for this recipe. I wish I could attach the photo. Thank you so much!
So happy you loved this!! It is a kick-ass recipe!
I will definitely be trying these next weekend. Only because this weekend I am making your fantastic liver. If my hubby thinks he loves me now, he just doesn’t know how much more he’s about to love me🤣🤣🤣
Can I just take a moment to compliment you on your very feminine wardrobe and your long hair/extensions (hey if you paid for it, it’s your hair😉) your voice is sweet, you smile a lot and you are the brightest thing in that kitchen. Keep it up girl. I’ve been happily married for over a dozen years now and I can assure you that the most endearing qualities a woman possesses in her husband’s eyes, are femininity, sweetness of disposition and great cooking.
Lots of love from the Channel Islands
Thank you so so much for your warm words and so glad you enjoy my recipes!!!
Hi Kaluhi,how do you improvise searing with a pan and gas if you don’t have what you are using?
As I said in the video, the electric grill is not what is cooking- it is you who is cooking. You can use anything, even a sufuria and jiko, si the meatballs will still sear??? If I go to my sisters’ and she does not have my electric grill, si any other pan she has in her house will do the work???? It is you who is cooking, it is your hands doing the work, not the pan.
Hi Kaluhi!
Can one improvise searing?
By improvise you mean?? Searing is a technique so how do you want to improvise it?
Hi Kaluhi🙋🏾♀️,
I am saddened that I haven’t visited your blog for a while so I have just gotten to see this right now like after all those months 😢…. Anyway I will try this and hope they won’t come beat Matata meatballs at my no. 1 position, even though I know they will😂😂
Aki I love both but if I am being honest, this one is the best of all time!
As I am writing this, my friend is currently eating this delicacy that I have prepared thanks to your recipe…. and she is just screaming about how delicious the meatballs are
Leo Leo I’m trying this kwa quarantine!!!
Hapo sawa kabisaaaaaa!
Hey what can one use as an alternative to breadcrumbs?
Nothing. You can get some in any well stocked supermarket at 100 bob
I tried it…it was amaaaazing. Thanks. Really loving your recipes.
Happy you loved it doll!
Hi Kaluhi… I want to try out this very bomb recipe… Is it possible to bake the meatballs instead of searing?
Yes but that will add about an hour to 90 minutes to your cook time. searing gets the job done in 8 minutes. The same amount of oil you will use on your baking sheet is the same amount of oil used on your pan for searing. According to me, there is no real advantage of baking unless you prefer to spend more time in the kitchen, adding an hour to an hour and a half to a step that normally takes just 8 minutes. Whichever way you choose is up to you though
I’ll try this today😊😊 You’re a very good host😊It felt very welcoming and smiley… Thank you girl….I’ll give my feedback on the results once I’m done😌
Happy it turned out perfect!
I just wanted to say thank you,thank you so much.This was hands down the best meatball recipe i ever made and my kids loved it so much and now i gotta cook it twice a week.We are rice lovers so serve it over rice.Yaani ni tamu sana,my people hamuwezi kuenda wrong with this one
Music to my ears!!! Love that your family especially the totos loved this one too!
Loved it!
xx
Kaluhi thanks for this recipe…i have found the perfect meatball recipe for my family. I made it and everyone loved it!
Lovely to know!! Its always great news when the famo loves it!
I love making currys and I am looking for something different this looks like an amazing recipe so I’m going to try it today wish me luck👍
You WILL do well! I know it!
Hi I’m Helga and I’ve just cooked another batch of this beautiful meal for my daughters birthday I have to say I’ve made loads of currys and this is the best I’ve tasted everyone loves it so thankyou and happy new year👍🥰
Happy New Year Helga, I an so happy both you and your girls enjoyed this lovely recipe!