Servings: 4 people
Calories: 561kcal
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 large Egg
- 1 cup Water
- ¼ cup Bread crumbs
- ¼ inch Fresh Ginger diced
- 2 cloves Garlic diced
- 1 medium Yellow Onion diced
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Curry Powder
- ½ teaspoon Aleppo Pepper optional
- ¼ teaspoon Cocoa Powder
- 1 teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- ¼ teaspoon Allspice
- ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- ½ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- ¼ cup Red Wine
- 1 whole Habanero or Scotch Bonnet Pepper
- 14 oz Coconut Milk
- 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
Instructions
Step 1 - Prepare the Spice Mix
- Mix together all the dry spices together in a small mixing bowl. Set aside.
Step 2 - Prepare the Meatball Mixture
- Allow the ground meat to come to room temperature. Add beaten egg, panko bread crumbs, and a quarter of the spice mix. Mix all into the ground meat gently being careful not to overdo it.
- Shape the ground beef into 6-8 raw meatballs. Light and soft hands technique is best to maintain tender meatballs.
Step 3 - Cook the Meatballs
- Heat the instant pot on saute settings (highest heat level). Add olive oil and brown the uncooked meatballs on two sides. Remove and set aside.
- Add the red wine and deglaze the bottom of the instant pot pan.
- Add the onions and saute 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger for 30 seconds.
- Layer in the whole habanero pepper, fresh thyme, half the remaining dry spices, coconut milk and water. Mix well.
- add the meatballs back. Cancel the saute settings. Add the lid and high pressure cook for 5 minutes. The Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to reach pressure and then the cook time will start counting down.
- After cooking allow the pressure to release naturally for 5 minutes. After those 5 minutes, manually release the remaining pressure using quick release. Remove the lid. Check the meatballs for doneness (internal temp should be 165 degrees). If not done allow meatballs to cook in the sauce a bit longer on saute settings.
- Remove the meatballs and cook the sauce down to preferred consistency. I like a thicker gravy type of consistency. Serve.
Video
Notes
Choose ground beef that has a bit of fat for more flavor and to help achieve tender meatballs. You can also use a combination of beef and pork or veal.
For the sauce I added about a ½ to 1 cup of water. You want enough liquid overall to avoid getting the burn notice when cooking. But you need to strike a balance so as not to have too thin of a sauce.
Meatball size is your choice, but note cooking time will be impacted by size. I made 8 meatballs total using one pound of ground beef.
Deglazing the bottom of the pot with wine is a great step for maximizing flavor. It also helps insure you don't get the dreaded burn notice that can happen with instant pot cooking.
Most meatball recipes skew toward an Italian seasoning profile including using sauces like a marinara sauce or basic tomato sauce. This is a different version obviously, but still one I'd consider an easy meal. Rather than go with a red sauce, coconut milk serves as the base flavor in the sauce along with a homemade curry seasoning mix.
I added habanero chili to give it that Afro-Caribbean element, but I didn't cut it as I didn't want the pepper's heat. Habaneros are actually fruity if you can the seeds and veins. I simply cut a few slits into the sides of the peppers. The cook time is short enough to avoid them disintegrating into the sauce. But you will want to remove the chili as soon as you release all the pressure.
Mix all into the ground meat gently being careful not to overdo it. Light and soft hands technique is best to maintain tender meatballs.
In a typical meatballs recipe you'd probably serve them with spaghetti. With this more North African flavor profile I'd recommend serving over a grain like rice, fonio, or couscous. These also make for great meatball subs with the tasty sauce on top.
Nutrition
Calories: 561kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 46g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 127mg | Sodium: 457mg | Potassium: 662mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 422IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 7mg
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