Last night, I made Haray Masalay Walay Koftay — I don’t know how to translate that except Meat Balls in Green Sauce. It’s basically Pakistani meatballs, made with beef, roasted cumin, ginger, garlic, coriander, and cilantro amongst other things, in a Cilantro-Mint Yogurt Sauce. Excuse the picture quality — I didn’t think about posting this and was using just my phone.
A few notes about the recipe — I made it on the go and used spices we had on hand so feel free to use additional spices or play around with existing ones. You could use curry powder or rasl el hanout, ground cloves, etc. I also have a high tolerance for hot peppers so omit them or use less than the amounts I’ve listed, depending on your taste. I also saved some koftaa/meatballs to use in pita sandwiches with some jalapeño hummus — you can use them in variety of ways.
Here’s the recipe:
Haray Masalay Walay Koftay
Ingredients for the Meatballs
Ground Beef – 1 lb
Red onion, chopped finely – 1
Fresh Bread Crumbs – 2 cups (I took a few slices of white bread and pulsed them in the processor)
Garlic, minced – 2 TBSPN
Ginger, minced – 2 TBSPN
Roasted Cumin Seeds – 2 TSPN
Ground Cumin – 2 TSPN
Ground Red Chili Powder – 1 TSPN (or less if you want it less spicy)
Green chilies, minced – 2 (I used Thai green chilies — use less if you don’t want it to be spicy)
Ground coriander – 1.5 TSPN
Cilantro, chopped – 1 bunch
Roasted Fennel Seeds – 1 TSPN
Garam Masala – 1 TSPN
Lemon juice – 2 TSPN
Eggs, lightly beaten – 2
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Oil for deep frying (I used Canola but you can use any with a high smoke point)
Ingredients for the Hara Masala (Green Sauce)
Yogurt (plain, Greek or full fat) – 3 cups
Red Onion, chopped – 1
Cilantro – 2 bunches
Mint – 1 bunch
Green chilies (I used Thai) – 2 (or less if you don’t want it spicy)
Dried Mango Powder – 1 TBSPN
Garlic, minced – 1 TBSPN
Ginger, minced – 1 TBSPN
Cumin – 2 TSPN
Salt and Pepper – to taste
Olive oil – 2 TBSPN
Directions for the Meatballs
In a bowl, mix all ingredients except the oil — use your hands and mix them well. Form meatballs out of the mixture.
In a deep pan or a wok, heat up enough oil to deep fry the meatballs. Make sure the oil is very hot.
Deep fry the meatballs until golden brown on the outside and cooked through (I tested one first to see how long it took).
Directions for the Sauce
In a blender, add the cilantro, mint, green chilies, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and yogurt and blend until the cilantro and mint are completely integrated and the sauce is a beautiful green colour.
In a deep pan, heat the olive oil and sautée the onions till they are soft and golden. Add the yogurt mixture and the cumin, and cook on medium low heat for about 8 to 10 minutes till the sauce is thick enough to cover the back of the spatula.
Add the meatballs to the sauce and serve over rice or with naan.
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