Spicy Indian Turkey Meatballs

I've been making this recipe for about 6 months, and we are in love.  It's funny because the the inspiration recipe was this one.  The original was a chickpea "meatball" in the sauce, not meat at all. We were at our cabin, and I had limited ingredients, so I made it like this below.

I've made this with combinations of ground turkey, pork or beef and frankly each is very yummy! The sauce is the part that is so flipping delicious.  You could serve it over rice, or cauliflower rice, or even as an appetizer meatball.  You might need some Naan bread to help wipe up every last drop of the sauce. Yum!

A couple of EDITS- 1) Feel free to increase the seasoning if you like it spicier!  2) We ate the leftovers for a late breakfast with a sunnyside up fried egg with a runny yolk. Exceedingly yummy!

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

Meatballs:

20 oz ground turkey (or mixture of pork, turkey or beef)

1 egg

1/4 cup minced cilantro

1 Tbsp minced fresh jalapeno

1 cup chopped spinach (optional)

1/2 Tbsp fresh ground ginger

1 Tbsp minced garlic 

1 tsp salt

Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp minced shallots, or onions

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 Tbsp fresh ground ginger

1 Tbsp minced fresh jalapeno

1 can petite minced diced tomatoes

1 can 15 oz tomato sauce

1 cup chopped spinach (optional)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala, or curry powder

Salt to taste

Yogurt or sour cream for serving (optional)

Mince up the spinach, cilantro, jalapeno, ginger and the garlic, divide into half (1/2 for meatballs, half for sauce).

Mix ground meat well with beaten egg, spinach, cilantro, jalapeno, ginger, garlic and salt.  Set aside.

In a large low saute pan, add olive oil, onions, garlic and jalapeno. Saute until they start to soften, add ginger, cumin, turmeric and garam masala (or curry powder).  Stir to "warm" the spices, then add the tomato sauce, and petite diced tomatoes.  Bring to a soft boil, and taste to check seasoning.  Add more spices if you like it spicier, or just salt to taste.  Reduce to medium heat. Roll meat mixture into balls and drop in the simmering mixture (or even use a small cookie/ice cream scoop to drop the meat mixture into the simmering sauce.  Using a spoon, gently nudge each meatball into the sauce.  Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Right before serving, add the fresh chopped spinach. Serve over rice, over cauliflower rice, or even on it's own.  

You can top with a dollop of yogurt and cilantro, if desired.

Add the egg, the spinach and the seasonings (turmeric, garam masala, salt....XXX)

Mix well. 

Mix half of the ginger, garlic and jalapenos in a saute pan with a bit of olive oil over medium heat until they start to wilt a bit.

Indian Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach

Golden and fragrant, we loved the beautiful color and flavors of this dish.  This one is somewhat healthy too.  This one is a quick dinner to pull together, and reheats nicely too.
Inspired by this recipe, but simplified by me (because I am like that).

I usually have boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the freezer, canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans) on the pantry shelf and fresh spinach hanging around. We have made this with the yogurt addition at the end, and without, and frankly, both are delicious.  If you don't have the yogurt, skip it, but don't skip this recipe it's so tasty.  If you don't like spicy hot, omit the cayenne pepper, otherwise, curry powder and turmeric are not that spicy, just golden and fragrant.

One caution, be sure to put on an old shirt when cooking, and eating, this. If you don't, you're sure to have some yellow spots adorning your shirt. Ask me how I know...

Ingredients

Servings: 6

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp butter

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

 Kosher salt

1 large onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons grated peeled ginger

2 teaspoons ground curry powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground turmeric

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

1 cup (or more) chicken broth

5 ounces baby spinach (about 8 lightly packed cups)

1/4 cup Greek yogurt (optional)

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves with tender stems

Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt. Working in batches, cook chicken, reducing heat as needed to prevent over-browning, until golden brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

Add butter and onions to drippings in pot; season with salt. Cook, stirring often, until onions are soft and golden brown, 10-15 minutes.   Stir in garlic, ginger, curry powder, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne. Cook, stirring constantly, until spices are fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in chickpeas and 1 cup broth. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Add more broth if needed to cover chicken about three-fourths of the way up. Bring to a simmer. Cover pot and turn the heat to low, braise chicken until fork-tender, 45-55 minutes. Add spinach to pot, cook until spinach is wilted, 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat, stir yogurt into cooking liquid. Season with salt and sprinkle with cilantro. Spoon chicken mixture over white, or basmati, rice.

Tomato Cauliflower Curry

Lots of great flavors and a very satisfying meatless Monday dinner option. 

Garam Masala is an Indian spice mixture that is easy to find on Amazon, but you could also make it yourself, here's a link to Allrecipes for a garam masala recipe mixture.  Also, my curry powder is a hot one, so if yours is more mild, you may want to add some more spice like a bit of cayenne to increase the heat.  Then again, maybe you want to make this more kid friendly and keep it very mild! 

 
Serves 4-6
Ingredients

2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 jalapeno, minced (seeds removed first)
1 1/2 Tbsp Madras curry powder
1 1/2 Tbsp garam masala   
2 lbs. tomatoes, cut into quarters (or one 28 oz can of diced tomatoes)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 15 ounce can of chick peas, drained
2 cups corn, fresh or frozen
1 cup green peas, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup sour cream
Salt to taste


Chop your onions and saute over medium heat in a large 4-5 qt pot in the olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they start to soften. Add the garlic, ginger, jalapeno, curry powder and garam masala.  Stir for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.  Add the tomatoes.  Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat until the tomatoes start to break down a bit (if using canned tomatoes, this step will be much quicker). 

Add in the tomato paste and the cauliflower pieces, cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about another 8-10 minutes.  Add in the chick peas, corn and peas.  Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until all the mixture is completely hot.  Stir in the sour cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.  

Serve at once over rice, quinoa or on it's own with some naan bread. Top with yogurt cucumber cooling sauce, if desired.

Here it is with some sauce on top, which is actually how we ate it.
This sauce was also great with grilled salmon the next night!

Yogurt Cucumber "cooling sauce" 

1 cup yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 green onion, minced small
1/2 cup of cucumber, minced small
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper

Serve over rice, or scoop up with some naan bread 

 
I could eat this stuff all day...

Yogurt Cucumber "cooling sauce" for Indian Food

I've made these before...  I love cucumbers and yogurt.
Tzatziki
Raita Salad
But this one is just different, and wonderful.

Perfect served along spicy vegetable curry, but equally good the next as a condiment for grilled salmon. You could also serve as an appetizer with pita bread, olives and veggies.
I paired this recipe with my Tomato Cauliflower Curry.

Makes about 1 1/2 cups
Ingredients

1 cup yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 green onion, minced small
1/2 cup of cucumber, minced small
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
Salt and Pepper

Mince up the cucumber and green onion into very small pieces.  Chop cilantro. Mix the veggies into the yogurt, adding the lemon juice.  Mix and let sit for 15-20 minutes, adding salt & pepper as needed.

Here it is on top of the vegetable curry!

 Need some regular ideas?  "Like" my Facebook page

Indian Spinach and Cauliflower- Palak Gobi Sabzi

UGLY!
But tasty.

My hubby always says "Ugly food is good food".  
While I may not always agree with that, and I DO aspire to have my food look great, sometimes you just have to get over yourself on that.
Indian food is one of those cuisines that tastes SO great but often is in the UGLY category.

This one is no exception.  I got to tell you, you put this pureed spinach sauce on anything and it doesn't look so good.  Including your teeth, your table or your napkins.
But, wow, the spinach sauce has zip and flavor galore!  It would be great on potatoes, garbanzo beans or rice.

I have no idea if Palak Gobi Sabzi is right,  I Googled it and it came up as the Indian name for cauliflower and spinach.  Might not be right for the pureed spinach sauce... so if you know, please let me know!

Serves 6
Ingredients

1 big pack of spinach, fresh or frozen
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 lg onion, chopped
1 -2 green chilies (like jalapenos), chopped with seeds

4 tablespoons ghee or 4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon garam masala (Indian mixed spice)
1 teaspoon turmeric or curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin 
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced 
1 large cauliflower, broken into flowerettes

Over medium high heat, saute the garlic, ginger, onions and green chili together in the butter until the onion started to brown. Add the spices  Stir for about a minute until the aroma starts to bring out the flavor. 

Then add the spinach and cook till it wilts. Puree in a blender or food processor, making a paste out of the onion, spinach mixture.  Add salt to taste.  Make sure the spinach puree is quite flavorful as the cauliflower is very mild.

Steam your cauliflower (to the doneness you like) and toss with the sauce. 
Serve at once.

I served it Indian Grilled "Yellow" Chicken.

 

Indian Grilled "Yellow" Chicken

I'm sure that sometimes, sometimes, like me, you stand in front of your freezer and look at the lumpy frozen chicken breasts and say- what to do? what to do?

I always buy the ginourmous bag at Costco, because it is just so easy.  
Dull, but easy.
Often times, the end result of a cooked chicken breast can be dry, hard and very boring.
My hubby doesn't really care for chicken, so I always trying to spruce it up and "sell" it to him.
I made this recipe up this summer, but have made it many times in past months.

This one has exciting flavors from the garlic and lemons, a little spice from the cumin and red pepper flakes.  Turmeric, or curry powder give it a beautiful yellow color.

Here's a very easy one, with ingredients that you probably already having hanging around.


Serves 4
Ingredients

4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric (or curry powder, if you don't have turmeric)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cilantro, minced (optional)

Marinate about 4-6 hours, or even over night.  Remove the chicken from the marinade and grill over med heat until done about 10 minutes per side.Slow and easy, don't try to rush it by cooking on extra hot grill.

NOTE: We used the Traeger smoker at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes per side, to give it a bit of smoke flavor too.

We served it with the Indian Cauliflower with Spinach Sauce.  Kind of ugly (as good Indian food is prone to be...) but delicious.

Quick Chicken Tikka Masala

I get my inspiration from a lot of different places.
Indian food always inspires me.
I read the Seattle Times online... but I admit that I like the "Living" section the best.  Who needs all that BAD, sensationalized news stories?  Not me...

I love to read the recipes; it keeps me on top of what other people are doing and I love to see what other people like to cook.  It makes me feel, well.. more normal.

This one spoke to me... One Skillet Tikka Masala.
I love fast and easy INDIAN food.
Yum!  Here's the original recipe from the Seattle Times
I really didn't change it much.  
The important part is that you can actually throw this dinner together in about 20 minutes.
Hey, make it your own- - -throw in some veggies; cauliflower, zucchini- whatever you like!

Makes 4 servings,
Ingredients

4 teaspoons garam masala (see note)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ lb pound chicken breasts, cut into chunks, or use chicken tenderloins

4 teaspoons canola oil, divided

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 large sweet onion, diced

4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

2 cans (14-ounce) diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Stir together garam masala, salt and turmeric in a small dish. Place flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon of the spice mixture and dredge in the flour. (Reserve the remaining spice mix and 1 tablespoon of the remaining flour.)

....OK, I'm so lazy that I actually sprinkled the flour, the salt and the turmeric on the top and then browned it.  I would suggest you mix, (as above...) and the toss it together.  Try a ziploc bag or something and shake it up...

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil in the pan over medium-low heat. Add garlic, onion and ginger and cook, stirring often, until starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the reserved spice mix and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Sprinkle with the reserved 1 tablespoon flour and stir until coated. Add tomatoes and their juice. Bring to a simmer, stirring and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring often, until thickened and the onion is tender, 3 to 5 minutes.

Stir in cream. Add the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium-low heat until the chicken is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Note: Garam masala, a blend of spices used in Indian cooking, usually includes cardamom, black pepper, cloves, nutmeg, fennel, cumin and coriander. It is available in the spice section of most supermarkets. I've mixed my own with using my own ratios of the above spices.  I like cumin so I use the most of that.... otherwise, I add it in the ratio I like.  I added cayenne  too... y'know why?  Of course you do... because I like SPICY.

So... you like Indian too?  You might want to try these other recipes...
Indian Spiced Salmon
Chicken Frankie's- Indian Burrito (could be my favorite thing ever...)
Turkey Keema Curry (OK... this is awesome and quick too)

Indian Spiced Salmon

Here's a simple, and fast, way to prepare salmon fillets that tastes different and exotic from so many other ways on the barbecue. If you like spice, but not the heat, omit the cayenne pepper, and it should be fine! I can imagine that this would be quite a nice paste to use on chicken too.

I saw this recipe in the new Sunset magazine for June 2012, but it had way too many complicated spices that most people wouldn't have.  I actually had a bunch of the spices the recipe called for, but when I thought about how many people I know who would NOT have these spices hanging around, I figured it could use some simplification.  

The intense spices pair very nicely with salmon. Add some basmati or jasmine rice and a little  Raita Cucumber and Tomato salad.

Enjoy!

Serves 4
Ingredients

4 salmon fillets
1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic granules

1/2 tsp garam masala, (optional)

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest


In a small bowl, add all the dry spices.  Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil.  Mix to a paste and carefully pat the mixture on the tops and the bottoms of each fillet. 

Make a foil tray out of two thicknesses of foil, crimping the edges up on all sides.  Add the fillets to the foil pan and put it on a medium hot grill for about 10 minutes.  The salmon should start to look a little crispy on the edges and the bottom.  You may not get the tell tale white oozing that sometimes happens when you bake salmon, but the spice rub is covering it up.  Try not to over cook the salmon, you want some tenderness to the texture.

Here's what the foil barbecue pan looks like... obviously this is a different recipe, but I wanted to give you a visual.  This Lemon Rosemary Salmon is pretty yummy too!

Here's some other favorite salmon recipes:
Black & White Salmon
Lemon Rosemary Salmon

Maple Dijon Salmon Fillets on Spinach Salad
Salmon, Spinach & Garbonzos baked in foil
Salmon with Asian Ginger Lime Sauce