A Syrian recipe for meatballs from Claudia Roden. You can use veal if preferred.
Ingredients
- 250 g dried pitted sour cherries
- 750 g lean minced lamb
- sea salt and black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- oil
- 1 large large red onion peeled and finely chopped
- juice of a l;emon
Servings:
Instructions
- Rinse the sour cherries then soak them in water to cover for 30 minutes.
- Put the meat into a bowl and add salt, pepper, allspice and cinnamon. Knead vigorously to achieve a soft pasty texture. This will take several minutes. Roll into balls the size of fat marbles and fry briefly in shallow oil, turning them and shaking the pan until they change colour all over. You will have to do them in batches. Remove with a slotted spoon. They should be pink and underdone inside.
- Heat 2 tbsps of the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the cherries and their soaking water together with the lemon juice and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the meatballs and cook gently for 5 -10 minutes, turning them until they are cooked through and have absorbed the cherry juices.
- Serve with rice or on opened up mini pitta breads, soft side up.
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