However, every now and then I cook something that makes me think that maybe I do deserve to be described as a good cook. It's usually when I bring together some slightly unusual ingredients in an inspired combination that I have not knowingly copied from anywhere else, and this was the case with this meatball curry that I cooked up this evening, having spent the day out drinking beer on the first Saturday of Carnival. The ingredient which lifts it up onto another level is the inclusion of some squid in the meatball mixture.
Ingredients
meatballs
100g squid, cut into small pieces
1 leek
2 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of fresh ginger
500g minced pork
2 tbsps light soy sauce
1 tbsp white wine
2 tbsps green chilli chutney (substitute with 1 tbsps of minced green chilli and 1 tbsps lemon juice)
4 tbsps breadcrumbs
sauce
vegetable oil
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1-inch piece of fresh ginger
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk of lemongrass
1/2 tin of coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsps green chilli chutney (substitute with 1 tbsps of minced green chilli and 1 tbsps lemon juice)
Method
meatballs
- Peel and chop the garlic and ginger, and wash and chop the leek. Put the cuttlefish, leek, garlic and ginger into a food processor, and chop finely. Transfer to a large bowl, add the pork, soy sauce, wine, chilli chutney and breadcrumbs, mix well, return to the food processor and whizz briefly.
- Form the mixture into walnut-sized chunks and fry in vegetable oil until browned. (You will probably need to do 2 or 3 batches.) Remove to a plate.
sauce
- Peel and chop the onion, garlic and ginger, transfer to food processor and chop finely.
- In a medium saucepan, fry the onion mixture gently in vegetable oil. Once the onion has softened, add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, fish sauce and green chilli chutney, and stir well.
- Bring to a simmer, then add the meatballs, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with rice.
