Remember the first ‘gone wrong, gone right’ moment here? (Read Chicken 65)...Caramelized Meatballs is the second one
and that is how these came about…was preparing stuff for the Holi thing and realized that I probably didn't have
enough of my Sweet Chilli Garlic Sauce…put it on the gas and then oopsieee!! Forgot
about it and went back to fighting with another customer care executive about
the internet issues that refuse to go away...realized after about an hour and by
that time the sugar had caramelized completely and the sauce had turned into this
dark caramel coloured thick super sticky mix (thicker than peanut butter
consistency)...brilliant!!! just what I needed while prepping for guests to come over the next day…anyways,
dropped the original plan of Tamarind Meatballs and added the ‘gone wrong’ paste to the meat mince instead…go ahead and call
me crazy for experimenting without testing…but have you heard of those high risk takers?? Some
of them operate in the financial market and some of them in the kitchen!!...oh,
well, not really…more like bears projecting themselves to be bulls!!...result…I had to snatch the last serving away from the hungry greedy bunch to click the pics!!
Caramelized Meatballs
Ingredients:
- Onion, grated, 1 large
- Ginger, paste, 1 tsp
- Garlic, paste, ½ tsp
- Caramelized Sweet Chilli Garlic Sauce, 3 – 4 tsp, ( the ‘gone wrong’ version of the sauce, recipe follows )
- Oil, 1 tsp
- Salt, to taste
- Oil Spray or oil for greasing the tray
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients very
well except salt. Once done, pinch a little meat and cook on a skillet or
microwave to do a taste check. Add salt only after doing the taste check.
Cover and let the mix marinate in the fridge overnight.
Cover and let the mix marinate in the fridge overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180°C .
Line a baking sheet with
foil and lightly spray with oil.
Wet your hands slightly and
make small meatballs and place them on the baking sheet. In the oven for 25 –30
minutes for chicken and 30 – 40 minutes for the mutton or till they are completely
cooked.
Serve hot with the ‘gone
right’ version of the Sweet Chilli Garlic Sauce.
Sweet Chilli Garlic Sauce
Ingredients:
- Red chilli peppers, 10 large
- Garlic cloves, 15 ( adjust per taste)
- Water, ¼ cup
- Sugar, ½ cup ( Brown sugar preferable, but White sugar will do)
- Vinegar, ½ cup (Rice Vinegar preferable, but White vinegar will do)
- Salt , about 2 tsp
- Corn Starch slurry , 1 tbsp corn starch + 2 tbsp water, optional to get that glaze
Instructions:
Chop the red chilli peppers
into 2-3 pieces. You can remove seeds from most if you want, reduce the amount
of peppers used or adjust sugar later.
In a food processor, blend
all ingredients together (except the cornstarch mix,) till the garlic and
peppers are just itsy bitsy tiny chunks.
Transfer to a saucepan and bring
the mix to a boil. Lower the gas and simmer for about 5-6 minutes.
If using cornstarch, whisk
it well with water, add to the sauce and simmer for a further 1 minute or so
till the sauce thickens.
If not using cornstarch, the
sauce needs to simmer for additional 10-15 minutes – with you keeping a close eye
on it. Turn off the gas when the sauce thickens for ‘gone right’ version.
Additional 10-15 minutes for the sugar to do its thing for the ‘gone wrong’
version and before you get a chance to touch that cornstarch mix.
Take it off the heat. You
can adjust sugar, salt, vinegar and chilli at this stage after doing a taste check.
Cool completely and store –
I normally store in the refrigerator
And before I forget, don’t
stand next to stove inhaling the chilli and vinegar fumes – there is a
difference between keeping a close eye and trying to kill yourself!!!
In case you are wondering, this is what the 'gone wrong' version of the sauce looked like...
like u r post and not forget yummy meat balls
ReplyDeleteThanks Meena :-)
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