I had been thinking about tikka recipes sometime back and I came to the realization that nearly anything can be made into a tikka…Any meat that is! These meatball tikka masala were totally experimental. My dad suggested we make meatballs coz we had not had them for quite some time so I chose that time to try this out. I was so afraid I would mess up not only because I have not tried this recipe before, but also because I was making a large quantity. Nothing hurts more than making a lot of bad food. Ya relate?
But I thank God for whispering in my ear and heart how exactly I should go about it. These meatball tikka masala were a hit with my family. Spicy, juicy and delectable. #MUSTTRY for sure!
COOK TIME: 90 MIN SERVES:7
Meatball Tikka Masala Ingredients
For the balls:
1 kg of minced beef
1 egg
1/2 a cup of bread crumbs
1 lemon, juiced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 of thumb sized ginger root, minced
1/2 a teaspoon of dried thyme
1 heaped teaspoon of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons of plain yoghurt
For the masala
2 tablespoons of royco all spice
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1 tablespoon of coriander powder
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
3 carrots, finely diced
4 large tomatoes, grated
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 red onion, finely diced
Plain yoghurt, approx 1/2 a cup
Salt to taste
Method
Put your minced beef in a large bowl. Then add the pepper, cayenne,bread crumbs, whisked egg, the yoghurt , thyme, fresh lemon juice ginger and garlic. Mix everything until all the ingredients are distributed evenly through out the meat.
Take small hand fulls at a time and roll them into balls. Roll and set aside. The egg and crumbs allow them to stick quite easily so their is no need of making them too compact.
Put some oil in a large pan or a flat grill and grill or shallow fry the balls. It should take about 8-10 minutes for them to cook through. Do not crowd them, put a batch at a time depending on your quantity. The house always smells too good at this point!
Once all of them are done, set them aside and begin working on the tikka masala sauce.
For the sauce:
***
If you want to make minced meat stew and not meatballs, cook this sauce as instructed, but instead of adding the meatballs, add your boiled or seared minced meat. Utamu tu!
***
Add the onions, ginger and garlic to some heated oil in a sufuria and allow them to fry until they soften. This should be about 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
Then add the tomatoes, 3/4 of the carrots and 3/4 of the diced green bell pepper. Mix it all up then add tomato paste together with 1/4 cup of hot water. Mix your salt, royco, black pepper, turmeric and coriander powder to form a thick paste and add this to the sauce .Let this simmer for about 5 minutes.
Then throw in your meatballs into the sauce along with the remaining carrots and bell pepper. Add the rest of the yoghurt and mix it in until all white streaks disappear. Cover with a lid and allow this to simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. This time frame also allows the favor of the meatballs and that of the sauce to meld. If you feel the sauce is reducing, you can add some hot water or beef stock (1/4 cup at a time to retain the thickness).
As the meatball tikka masala is simmering, finely chop your fresh coriander which will serve the purpose of your garnish.Once this is done, remove from the heat, garnish and dig in!!!
Not too spicy, but you can feel the heat nonetheless. The sauce goes really well with nearly anything and makes even the most normal meal and experience never to be forgotten.
There is no better way than to accompany your starches than with these juicy meatballs bathed in a rich tikka masala sauce. You’ll never forget my tikka masala meatballs!
I hope you have added this to you to-make list :))
-Kaluhi
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Watch the video of how to make the meatballs here:
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!
My mouth literally watered as I read this.You are succinct in your description I can actually smell the spices blending in….You go girlie!!!!!
Now you can imagine the explosion of flavors once you actually give this a try… :)) #TooGood!
Love your blog to bits, photography is on point, the theme is great and the food … nom nom nom. We never get to see your face though lol
Thank you so much for the compliments.
I do share photos of myself, full photos. But not that often. I throw them in once in a long while LOL! I want the focus to be on my skill and not on my being. Then, I like to maintain my anonimity. I like walking in town like everyone else and no one recognizing me. I like blending in. But I do not know how long I can avoid being known 😀
Thanks for this recipe. I’ve got to try this very soon.
Love your blog.
http://tastiedine.wordpress.com {Foodie}
TD
You should. It is a definite crowd-pleaser!! And thank you for the compliment :))
*Laughs in Rae Sremmurd*
LOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLL
Hi Miss, do I boil the minced meat before i mix it with anything?
As the pictures show, I did not boil. I recommend the same for you. Do not boil. I feel they would not stick together as well when the beef is boiled as compared to when they are rolled up raw. I totally understand why you would want to boil. But trust me, the balls cook through when you seer them even without boiling. I had two batches and cooking each batch took just 10 min.
Hi, Kaluhi,
I love, love your blog…i have already tried several recipes but this is my absolute favorite. I now have constant guests in my my house who always request for this dish. Keep up the good work!!!!
Hey Judy!
Thank you so much for your compliments! 🙂 This is also a favorite in our house, My father’s all time favorite actually. I am so glad you and your guests enjoy is as well. Cheers!
Hello, could you please tell me which spices the royco contains as I am from Germany and don’t seem to be able to find it anywhere on the internet. Thanks. The recipe sounds delicious!
Hey Steffi!
I hope life in Germany is a s fab as it is her in Kenya :)). Royco contains the following ground spices: coriander, cinnamon, fennel seeds turmeric,ginger, garlic, cumin and methee seeds and some cornstarch. Maybe you can prepare this in large quantity and just keep it in a jar for your own use :))
Amazing recipe girl… Keep it up as u always do…. Tho was kindly asking wea did u use the lemon in the recipe? Can’t seem to see it… Thank u
Hey Miss Kui!
Thank you for the compliment. I am sure you will love this one too :)) I added the lemon while mixing all the meat ball ingredients with the raw meat just before rolling them.
Dinner for today has been identified. Your recipes are super awesome and easy to follow
I am sure you will love this! I am also super thrilled that you enjoy my recipes :))
The meatballs were absolutely fantastic. I enjoyed them thoroughly and they were even better the next day. Om nom nom. In the ingredients part, the garlic and ginger appear on the meatball side so I used them there but saw them again on the masala side. I didn’t mind it in both the sauce and the balls though. ☺
Awesome! Thank you for your feedback
This is the recipe that landed me on this blog last year, and its still my favorite.. Napenda Napenda.. Thanks kaluhi ????
You guys really loved this recipe I must admit :)). I will make a video for this soon :)))))))
Yummmm! This turned out so well. The sauce is everything…it was like fine dining at an Indian Restaurant but for cheap.Lol.
Thanks KK! 🙂
LOOOOOOOL! Fine dining at your very own home using a recipe you managed to make yourself! It doesn’t get any better than that!. Glad you enjoyed :*
I just loved watching the vblog bit! so well articulated… I’ll try the recipe! You are doing a good job!
Thank you so so much for your feedback.
Wooiii thanks for sharing! Dinner leo leo…. with ugali will taste like heaven!
W.
Definately fantastic with ugali!!! Glad you loved this recipe :))
So, I tried out these meatballs and they were the truth! Didn’t have plain yogurt so i ended up using flavored yogurt…I don’t think it distorted the taste too much. And i used store bought pasta sauce instead of tomato paste. I love the creative recipes.
So glad you enjoyed it. I like your use of substitutes, but I urge you to use plain yoghurt next time. You will see the difference :))
Hey.
I love your recipes.
I don’t have a grill… What do you suggest I do to get the meatballs ready?
Thank you :)) A pan is totally ok since you just need to shallow fry. Make sure it is none stick.
I made this for friends uallalalala. They think I’m a good cook thanx to you.
WOW yammy meat balls i will follow your recipe I did try but didn’t cook inside thanks K.
Practice makes perfect. Next time you will totally ace it!!!!
Hi Kaluhi, instead of using minced beef can I substitute by using minced turkey (turkey is more healthier), and instead of using plain yogurt can I use Plain Greek yogurt?
That would be ok
I’m so salivating as I read through.
Must try this.
Let me know how it goes