Sometimes it is hard trying to think of meals to cook when your family are a little on the fussy side. I was watching an episode of Food & Drink the other day hosted by the chef Tom Kerridge, the theme of which was about creating new dishes as apparently many people eat the same meals week in week out, and admit to not trying new dishes and havent done for 10 years!
I can understand how easy it is to get stuck in a cooking rut only cooking meals that you know your family will eat, or maybe you are just too busy to have to time to be more adventerous in the kitchen. Well, earlier this week, following on from the Food & Drink programme, I invented a dish inspired by some Garam Masala spice mix I was sent to review that I have never made for either myself or my family.
One meal that we all will eat happily and without any complaining, is meatballs and pasta, so I wondered if I could make some spicy meatballs and serve them alongside a spicy tomato sauce with rice instead of pasta. It was a risk as my two don’t eat many spicy foods, BUT I also knew that by adding some yogurt to the sauce at the end of the cooking time would make it milder. I decided it was worth the gamble to create a new dish that could become a new family favourite.
I used turkey mince but obviously you could use pork, lamb or minced chicken or even beef if you prefer.
The tomato and vegetable sauce is also a great way of getting some hidden veggies inside your children too, because I blended it all together so they had no idea what was in it!
Here is how I made the dish


- *FOR THE MEATBALLS*
- 750g turkey mince
- pinch of chili powder (or more if you prefer yours hotter)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 tsp garlic puree
- 1/2 tsp ginger puree
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 2 tsp Spice Kitchen garam masala spice mix
- 8 garlic and corrainder poppadoms
- 1 tbsp mango chutney
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp olive oil for browning off
- *FOR THE SPICY TOMATO & VEGETABLE SAUCE*
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic puree
- 1/2 tsp ginger puree
- 750ml passatta
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 large red pepper, deseeded and finely chopped
- 250ml boiling water
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 3 tsp Spice Kitchen garam masala spice mix
- 2 tsp mango chutney
- 1 small tub of fat free natual yogurt/greek style yogurt
- *T0 SERVE*
- brown rice (enough to serve the amount of people you are cooking for)
- grated cucumber
- naan bread
- mango chutney
- *TO MAKE THE MEATBALLS*
- saute the onion in some oil for about 5 minutes, adding the cumin, chili, garlic and ginger over a low heat to soften them, leave to cool
- place the poppadoms inoto a food processor (or bash them in a bag!) and blitz them to make crumbs
- put the mince into a large bowl
- add the onion, poppadom crumbs, beaten egg, garam masala and mango chutney and using your hands give it a good mix - being careful not to over work it
- wash your hands
- then make golf ball size meatballs using your hands and place on a plate or in a large tub and then transfer to the fridge to chill for a couple fp hours (or over night in my case)
- *TO MAKE THE SAUCE*
- place the oil on a pan over a low heat and add the onions, garlic, ginger and spices and saute for about 5 minutes
- add the carrot and peppers and continue to cook for another 5 minutes
- add the passatta, tomato puree and water and using a hand blender blend the sauce so the vegetables disappear making a textured sauce
- put back onto the heat, on a low heat and simmer while you cook your rice and meatballs
- *TO COOK THE MEATBALLS*
- pre heat the oven to 180oC / 160oC (fan oven)
- add a tbsp of oil to a pan and brown the meatballs on both sides - about 2 minutes each side
- transfer to an oven dish and cook for another 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through
- meanwhile cook your rice as per the instructions
- just before everything is cooked, toast the naan bread of you are having some
- remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the yogurt
- plate up your food, and serve some grated cucumber over the top of your meatball dish

Well, these were lovely and not as spicy as I had initially thought, so feel free to add more spice if you like yours hotter! The boys did try this – Burton preferred it to Jenson but they both said they would prefer it with mash or pasta!! (they are not big rice fans!). They really liked the meatballs so that is a start in the right new family meal direction, and their Daddy enjoyed it too. Yes! This will be made again (in fact the amount made allowed for some to be frozen for another time) and it is nice to have something different to make that was mostly liked!
I was sent a selection of spices from Spice Kitchen UK to review.