My husband and I really enjoy Indian food. Whenever we go out of town we look for Indian restaurants because there aren’t many where we live. That means we cook Indian at home, certainly not a bad thing since that means we can customize recipes to our taste. They may not be authentic, but we certainly like them! Josh is even our Naan baker so we try to have a supply in the freezer for curry nights.

Luckily our kids enjoy curry too. We tone down the spice a little for them (especially since my curry paste is HOT) but that is the only adjustment I make for the kiddos. What child doesn’t love meatballs?! The flavors appeal to the adults as well. The flavor profile includes curry, ginger, cilantro and coconut milk. My mouth is watering now!

This is the time of year when I am yearning for my garden. I couldn’t find cilantro at the store so I got the cilantro paste in a tube. I must admit it worked well, but fresh from the garden is always best. Ah, only a couple more months until garden time, spring lettuces, herbs… I digress and lust for fresh veggies!

The best part is that this dish is pretty healthy too. I use plenty of carrots because we all love them. Plus I have added fiber by putting in some chick peas. I just love how versatile they are, plus chick peas are an inexpensive form of protein. I hope you enjoy this dish as much as we all did.

Coconut Curry Lamb Meatballs Over Rice
For the Meatballs
1 lb. ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped finely
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. cilantro paste (or fresh cilantro)
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp. garam masala
1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Sauce
3 carrots, sliced or chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tbs. curry paste (or more to taste)
1 Tbs. cilantro paste
1 Tbs. fresh ginger, minced
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can (15 oz. ) chick peas, drained and rinsed
1 c. lite coconut milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the meatball ingredients and mix by hand. Form into 1.5 to 2 inch meatballs. Put 2 Tbs. olive oil in an oven safe skillet over medium high heat. Brown the meatballs on all sides. Put the skillet in the oven and bake the meatballs until done, about 25 minutes.

Put the meatballs on a plate and in the same skillet add the carrots, celery and onion. Sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the curry paste, cilantro paste and ginger; sauté for another two minutes. Add in the tomatoes, chick peas, coconut milk and meatballs. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over rice.

Note: If you don’t have an oven safe skillet just put the meatballs in a shallow baking dish for the oven after you brown them in the skillet.

Yields 6 servings