coconut butter chickpea meatballs
Sometimes I reach for balls when I need comfort.
If you need any of my Sidebar posts, or really the body of many recipes lately, you might be keyed in to my generally low mood lately. I’m not going to spend an hour here lamenting my troubles, but I am having a hard time of things right now (pretty much just mental illness-induced) and when that happens, the dishes I share tend to reflect the status.
Case in point – I cooked up a chickpea meatball dish because I wanted comfort food, and wanted something familiar that I knew I could nail without much trouble; and that you, too, could throw down if your inner cogs also malfunction.
Sometimes you need that, a little something you know will be good, even if it’s rather simple. Curry is one of my favorite indulgent dishes to make when I have no clue what my cravings ask for, because I always have the components around. I even went through a phase where I cooked a different curry every week because I just loved goofing around with combinations.
Now, butter sauce is the ultimate stick-to-your-ribs variant of curry. Usually made with chicken swimming in a tomato-butter sauce, amounts and formulas seem to vary from person to person, but I like to go extra rich on the sauce. Go big or go home.
Hence, these Coconut Butter Chickpea Meatballs are made with a hefty dose of salted butter and lots of full-fat coconut milk. The sauce and meatballs both are richly spiced with Indian mainstays, and the whole dinner can be done in around a half hour. So when you need happy food fast, make this one of your go-tos.
Bowl Of Balls
These meatballs have popped up before in my Cilantro Curry Chickpea Meatball and Rice Soup, and they’re one of my favorite ways to spruce up my standard meatball formula.
To the chickpea-walnut-breadcrumb base, add in lots of chopped cilantro (basil is fine too if you’re a hater), garlic, ginger, turmeric, and smoked paprika. Pulse the mixture in your food processor until chopped up and textured, but not overly clumpy. See the photo for reference. If you over-blend the batter, it will be too wet to work with. Wet balls. Heh.
Form the batter into balls. I usually get 14-15. A little tip to make handling your balls easier is to oil your palms between every 2-3 rounds.
Heat some oil in a skillet and crisp up the meatballs for a total of 8-10 minutes. I turn mine every minute to get a nice even browning. Be sure to monitor the heat to prevent the balls from burning. Once they’re golden and cooked through, move off to a plate.
Butter Me Up
Usually my skillet is a lil dry after cooking the meatballs, so I add a little drizzle more before moving on with the sauce.
Saute some garlic and ginger together with a medley of spices: curry powder (the only one I use is this one), turmeric, cumin, coriander, and a bit of cinnamon. Warm those until quite toasty, then stir in a good amount of butter. When that melts down, swirl in tomato paste with a wooden spoon. Some clumps will remain, but it should be fairly distributed.
Pour in your coconut milk and simmer the sauce until thickened and very fragrant. You only need about 10 minutes for this, and make sure you don’t boil the liquid. Keep a peeper on the heat and lower if you need to.
To finish, plop the meatballs back into the skillet and baste with the sauce until nicely coated. Saucy balls are the best balls.
I always have rice in my cooker when I plan curry, so that’s my primary serving suggestion. Some warmed naan is perfect – I ripped off a big fucken hunk for my bowl last night. Worth it – and lots of extra cilantro if you’re into that, which I am. I usually steam a bag of broccoli for some green as well.
Curry is sure to give me a boost, and the leftovers are just as swell, if not more so, than the fresh product. Pack some up with more rice and take it to work the following day so you can torment your coworkers with the tempting smell of curry. My house will maintain the lingering aroma for a day or so, which I honestly love. Makes it feel like waltzing into a restaurant whenever I’ve been out for awhile.
Tried this recipe out? Leave a rating and comment below with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you made!
Curry curry curry curry rockin’ everywhere:
One Skillet Thai Basil Coconut Curry Salmon
Simple Butternut Squash Coconut Curry
Mango Curry Chickpea Meatballs
coconut butter chickpea meatballs
Ingredients
meatballs
- 1 can chickpeas, drained
- 1 cup walnut halves
- 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 large onion, quartered
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
butter curry
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 cups canned full-fat coconut milk
- steamed rice, warm naan, and fresh chopped cilantro, to serve
Instructions
- To make the meatballs: combine all ingredients under "meatballs" in the bowl of a food processor. Blitz until a coarse batter forms – it should still have texture, but not with humongous chunks. Oil your hands and roll into balls. You will get 12-16 meatballs from the batter depending on how big you like your balls.
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the meatballs for 8-10 minutes, turning every 60-90 seconds, until golden and crisp on all sides. Move to a plate.
- Add a drizzle more olive if needed to the skillet. Saute the garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, coriander, and cinnamon until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add in the butter and heat, swirling with a wooden spoon, until melted and slightly browned. Stir in the tomato paste.
- Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a gentle simmer. Heat until slightly thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Slide in the meatballs and baste with the butter sauce for 2-3 minutes longer.
- Divide the meatballs over bowls of steamed rice. Serve with fresh naan and chopped cilantro, as desired.
