Indian Spiced Lamb Meatballs with Ratatouille
A stew of lamb meatballs and ratatouille braised with coconut milk and fragrant Indian spices - a wonderful one-pot wonder with loads of great flavor.
- Prep Time: 40 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Braise
- Cuisine: indian
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For The Meatballs
- 2 pounds ground lamb
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (from 2 slices good-quality white bread pulsed in a food-processor)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I use olive oil)
For The Ratatouille
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium eggplants (about 1 pound each), ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3 medium zucchini, ends trimmed, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (about 5 large cloves)
- 3 bell peppers (any mix of red, yellow or green), seeded, deveined, and diced
- 1 bunch scallions (about 8), trimmed and thinly sliced
- 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped, peeled fresh ginger (about a 2-inch piece)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp saffron threads
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- several grinds of fresh ground black pepper
Other Ingredient
- 1 cup canned, unsweetened coconut milk (shake can before opening)
Garnish
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- lemon juice (1 lemon)
- lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
- fresh chopped cilantro, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Combine lamb and bread crumbs in a bowl. Whisk egg with 1 teaspoon garlic, 1 teaspoon garam masala, and 1 teaspoon salt, and add to bowl. Mix everything together until just combined. Roll into 1½ inch balls. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown the meatballs (In two batches to avoid over-crowding) on all sides, 7-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat in a large deep covered pot, such as a Dutch oven. Add eggplant cubes and cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes (regulate heat to avoid burning) Add zucchini and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. The vegetables will start to soften. Add the chopped garlic, bell peppers, scallions, jalapeños, chopped ginger, ½ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp saffron, ⅛ tsp cayenne, 1 tsp salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables soften a bit.
- Add the coconut milk and the meatballs to the pot and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover and braise in the oven for 35 minutes.
- Just before serving, stir through a teaspoon of garam masala, garnish with lemon juice, lemon zest and cilantro. Enjoy!
Notes
[This post first appeared on Panning The Globe in June 2013. It was updated in November 2019 with new photos, more clarifying details in the written post and clearer instructions in the recipe.]
Nutrition Information: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for the advice of a professional nutritionist.
Keywords: lamb meatballs, lamb meatballs stew, Indian meatball stew with vegetables