Spicy Turkey Meatball Curry

5 from 1 vote

This turkey meatball curry with turkey meatballs, turmeric, and many other spices is one of the best curries ever!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: Asian and Indian Recipes

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: -8 servings

Calories: 389kcal

Author: Adina

Preheat the oven to 400°F/ 200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
Blend spices: Roughly chop the green onions, garlic cloves, and ginger. Place them in a (small) blender together with the lemon juice, garam masala, coriander, cumin, cayenne pepper, and chili flakes. Blend until smooth.
6 green onions + 6 garlic cloves + 1 inch ginger + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice + 1 tablespoon garam masala + 1 teaspoon coriander + ½ teaspoon cumin + ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper + 1 small pinch dried chili flakes
Meatball mixture: Transfer to a large bowl and add the ground meat, beaten egg, yogurt, and salt. Mix well with your hands until the mixture is quite sticky. With wet hands, form the meatballs, about 35 of them. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
2 lbs ground turkey / 900 g + 1 large egg + 3 tablespoons plain yogurt + 2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Bake the meatballs for about 15-20 minutes until lightly brown and cooked through. Remove them from the oven and set aside.

Saute: Chop the onions finely. Grate or crush the garlic cloves and grate the ginger and fresh turmeric. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large pan and cook these ingredients until they start to brown slightly (about 8 minutes) while stirring often.
3 medium onions + 10 garlic cloves + 1½ inch ginger + 2 pieces fresh turmeric + 2 tablespoons oil
Add the ground turmeric, curry powder, cumin, coriander, and black pepper and continue stirring until fragrant, about 1 or 2 minutes.
1 teaspoon ground turmeric + 4 teaspoons curry powder + 4 teaspoons cumin + 3 tablespoons ground coriander + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Simmer sauce: Add the chopped canned tomatoes, water, bay leaf, and salt. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Blend the sauce with an immersion blender (Note 3).
1 can tomatoes + 2 cups water/ 500 ml + 1 bay leaf + 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
Adjust the taste with lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and salt.
1 tablespoon lemon juice + cayenne pepper + more salt
Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover, and simmer very gently for a further 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve with rice.
cilantro

Search and measure all the spices in a small bowl before you start cooking the onions.
Ground meat: You can also use ground beef or a mixture of ground beef and pork.
Blender: If you use a white hand blender, be aware that it will no longer be white after making this sauce. Turmeric will make it yellow, so if you want to avoid that, use a food processor, a dark-colored blender, or one made of a material other than plastic. The sauce is very hot; don't burn yourself when blending.