Chickpea "Meatballs" (cutlets) in Red Curry Sauce

For a recent meal, the carnivores in the family were having meatballs in a "Caribbean" sauce with pineapple and peppers. I wanted to make a similar dish for myself, but didn't have vegetarian meat on hand, nor did I feel like tofu. 

I found this recipe for chickpea "meatballs", which looked promising and fairly easy to make. I dunked a couple of them in the pineapple sauce, and it was okay, but not a great fit. The original recipe calls for tomato sauce, but I wasn't in the mood for that, so I put together a quick spicy red curry sauce to go with them and it worked out perfectly.

If you don't like red curry, you can have these with whatever sauce you like, or even eat them plain, perhaps in some pita bread.

If you don't have or don't like any of the herbs or spices, you can omit them (I made it with only cilantro, as I didn't have any parsley on hand).

Chickpea "Meatballs" in Red Curry Sauce 

 

 Ingredients (for 16 large cutlets): 

For the Cutlets 

- 2 cups cooked chickpeas (if you can get them, it's best to use frozen cooked chickpeas and defrost them. If not, canned or self-cooked will do fine). 

- 1 large onion, peeled and quartered 

- 3 cloves garlic, peeled

- 4 slices of white bread, soaked in water and then squeezed (gluten free bread works fine) 

- 1 cup parsley leaves

- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves

- 3 tbsp tahini (the raw kind, not the prepared spread) 

- 1 tbsp lemon juice 

- 1 tsp ground cumin 

- 2 tsp Ras-Al-Hanout or Garam Masala 

- 1/2 tsp black pepper 

- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

- olive oil for oiling the pan 

For the Sauce: 

- 2 tsp canola/sunflower/vegetable oil

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced 

- 1 inch/2.5 cm of fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp of frozen ginger) 

- Thai red curry paste (make sure you use a vegetarian brand, as many contain fish/shrimp). Start out with about 1/2 tbsp, and then add more if you want the sauce spicier. I went with 1 heaped tbsp in mine.

- 1 can coconut milk

- 1 tbsp lemon juice 

- 2 tsp sugar

Preparation: 

For The Cutlets:

1. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment, and grease with olive oil. Heat oven to 200 C/ 400 F. 

2. In a food processor, blend the chickpeas, onion and garlic together. Add the wet bread, herbs, tahini, lemon, and spices (including the salt and pepper) and blend together to a smooth paste. 

3. Using lightly oiled hands, roll the mixture into 16 balls and place each on the prepared baking tin. Bake for 25 minutes or until the bottoms are golden-brown and the cutlets fairly firm. Allow to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Note: at this point, you can just eat the cutlets as they are (they would make a nice sandwich), or serve them with any sauce you like.

For the Sauce: 

1. In a large pan, heat the oil, and then saute the garlic and ginger until fragrant and golden. 

2. Add the red curry paste and mix around a bit to break the paste up. 

3. Add the coconut milk and stir well, until all of the red curry paste is fully incorporated into the milk. Check the flavors and add more paste if needed. 

4. Add lemon juice and sugar, and cook on a low simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens.

5. Carefully place the cutlets in the sauce, stirring gently to coat, and cook for a few minutes until the cutlets are warmed through. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!