Mini Lamb Meatballs

These delicious little meatballs are perfect for snacking as a starter and taste so great with all the different chutneys! They’d also be a great dish for tapas night or even as canapés for your dinner parties! Just serve them with cocktail sticks and they’ll be a definite winner!

They are really easy and quick to make too - if you marinate the minced meat the night before and leave in the fridge, all you have to do is roll them up and cook on the day! 

My family and I usually have them as a starter before a hearty curry as part of our Sunday lunch, accompanied by some more snacky food i.e. peanuts, crisps etc 😋 so so good!!!

CHOPPING THE ONION: You want the onion to be chopped really fine to avoid lumps of it sticking out of your meatballs. Unless you have a very sharp knife and you are a pro at chopping onions into tiny pieces without them sliding away from you, I would suggest blitzing them into a food chopper until they become fine pieces. This technique also creates some juice which is great for giving the meatballs extra flavour, and more importantly, acting as the glue to keep the meatballs intact when rolled.

ROLLING THE MEATBALLS: Have a small bowl of water at the side and wet your palms slightly each time you roll out a ball. This adds a little moisture to help the meat stick and stop it from falling apart.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500g minced lamb

• 1 tsp salt

• ¼ tsp turmeric

• ½ tsp coriander cumin powder

• ¼ tsp garam masala (optional to add additional spice)

• ½ tbsp garlic – finely chopped/ground

• ½ tbsp ginger – finely chopped/ground

• ½ tbsp green chilli – finely chopped/ground (adjust this according to if you want less or more spice)

• Handful of freshly chopped coriander

• ½ small onion – finely chopped

• 1 tbsp oil (sunflower, olive, vegetable or rapeseed oil will work - I use rapeseed as it is healthier)

METHOD:

1. In a large mixing bowl, add in the minced meat followed by all of the other ingredients except for the oil.

2. Using your hands or a large wooden spoon, mix everything together until well combined.

3. Next you want to roll out the meatballs. For this, use a little water to wet your palms before rolling each ball to about 3cm in diameter. Do this until you have used up all of the meat.

4. Heat the oil in a large pan (I would suggest using a wok or a deep flat pan so the meatballs don’t stack up on each other). On a medium-low heat, add in the meatballs one by one, spacing them out as much as possible, then cover and leave to cook until done. You will need to keep turning them around so the outside cooks evenly.

Serve with some cocktail sticks or mini forks and enjoy!