Fruity Beef Meatballs with Curried Banana Sauce

This recipe works so brilliantly that I thought I'd share it. It is good as a meal on its' own, or can be served alongside a variety of other curries. It will work if you use only the pre-prepared curry powder, but the extra spices give a richer flavour.

serves 2 - 4 people

You will need:
Shallow ovenproof dish
frying pan
food processor (not essential, but it's the easiest way to prepare the date, apple and onion mixture)

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 2 medium onions
• 2 apples
• 8 pitted dates
• about 500g beef mince
• about 1 tbsp dried breadcrumbs
• salt
• ground mixed pepper

Sauce:

• 3 onions, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced/crushed
• 2 tbsp curry powder (I use medium, you may prefer to use stronger or milder)
• ½ tbsp turmeric
• ½ tbsp ground cumin
• ¼ teasp chilli powder (or equivalent fresh or purée)
• 3 cloves
• ½ teasp garam masala
• ½ teasp grated nutmeg
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• about ½ glass wine
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 dessertsp smooth apricot jam
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 bay leaves
• small handful chopped dried apricots
• 3 firm medium bananas, cut into thick chunks
• hot water
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 teasp butter

Method

Meatballs:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
• Peel, roughly chop the onions, apples and dates, then whizz in a food processor until almost pureed.
• Mix pureed fruit and onions with the mince, add breadcrumbs and mix thoroughly. Chill in the fridge for about half an hour.
• Shape into balls and fry gently until the lower surface of each ball begins to caramelise.
• Transfer meatballs to greased ovenproof dish and put on a low shelf in the oven whilst making the sauce.
• Re-use frying pan for sauce, as follows:-

Sauce:

• Roughly chop the onions, then fry gently in mixture of butter and oil until softened. Add garlic, and mix in whilst still on the heat.
• Add the curry powder, spices and bay leaves, cook gently for about a minute to release natural flavours.
• Deglaze pan with as much wine as you think it needs, but not so much as to add too much flavour.
• Stir in flour making sure you coat the onion evenly, then add the lemon juice and enough hot water to make a thickish sauce.
• Add chopped apricots and then remove from the heat.
• Take the meatballs from the oven – the tops should have started to colour – and put the sliced (chunked) bananas in the dish, slotting them between individual meatballs.
• Pour the sauce over the top.
• Return to the oven, uncovered, for no between 45 minutes and an hour.

Serve with something tasty - basmati or pilau rice, naan bread, pitta bread and/or poppadoms.

This is my own version of similar recipes found in www.poshtodd.com/2012/11/amazing-curried-banana-meatballsmmm.html and http://www.greedygourmet.com/recipes-by-course/main-course/beef-meatballs-with-curried-banana-sauce/

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