moroccan meatballs with chickpeas and cabbage
rating:Loosely based on a Claudia Roden recipe, this is what we ate last night - utterly delicious, it was.
We found that eight meatballs was enough for the two us with the chickpeas, so eight have gone in the freezer for another day.
meatballs:
500g lamb mince
ground cumin and coriander to taste
sea salt and black pepper
groundnut oil
1 small onion, very finely chopped
sauce:
1 can chickpeas
1/2 unwaxed lemon
cabbage or spring greens, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp sundried tomato puree
garnish:
lots of chopped fresh coriander
3 cloves finely chopped garlic
olive oil
Combine the meatball ingredients and squish together with your hands, then form into globes, about the size of a walnut. We got 16 out of it.
Fry them in batches in the oil until they are brown outside and pink inside, and drain on kitchen paper. When you're done, pour away the oil, but keep the pan scrapings.
Take the cabbage and stir it about in the remains of the oil over low heat till it starts to wilt. Then add chickpeas, tomato puree, and meatballs. Cut the half lemon into 4 chunks and put it in the pan (we chunked the other half and bunged it in the rice water). Add some water - not too much, put on a low heat and leave for about 30 minutes.
Towards the end, brown the chopped garlic in a little olive oil, and stir it (oil and all) into the meatballs, together with the chopped coriander.
Serve with basmati rice - gorgeous.