A welcome change from the usual weeknight pasta, make this pasta and curried meatballs Indian-style. Vibrant with a few common spices, it is an exciting but comforting pasta and meatball dinner.
Gather your meatball ingredients and turn the oven to 425°F (220°C).
In a bowl large enough to hold all the ingredients, first thoroughly mix together everything except the ground meat. If using ground poultry I recommend adding 1 tablespoon oil. Then using a fork or your hands, mix in the meat until well combined.
(See note below if you want to cook on the stovetop.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil and evenly spread a tablespoon oil. Portion out the meatballs into 2-inch balls for 16 to 18 meatballs, or make 8 larger ones.
Bake the smaller ones for 12 to 14 minutes or the larger one for 15 minutes. Turn the meatballs made from beef or lamb halfway through. I find that the turkey or chicken meatballs cook best without this step.
Sauce
While the meatballs are baking, make your sauce. Gather the sauce ingredients.
In a medium saucepan or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Stirring frequently cook the onions to translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and stir in the ginger garlic paste. Sauté for a minute of 2 until it smells cooked.
Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of the spice mix, turmeric, cumin, and chili powder. Stir constantly until the spices are toasted. If they are sticking to the bottom of the pan, add a tablespoon of water. This step will take 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes on medium-low heat uncovered. The sauce will reduce a bit and the flavors will marry.
Pasta
While the sauce is cooking, heat generously salted water for the pasta. Cook the pasta undercooking it slightly. Drain, and reserve a 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water.
Final assembly
Using the reserved pasta water, thin your tomato sauce as needed. Taste the sauce for salt, sugar, and butter or cream. If you feel the sauce needs mellowing or enriching, add butter or whole cream. Yogurt would also be a good choice.
Combine the pasta into the tomato sauce and allow to cook for 4 minutes. Stir in the meatballs (or you can perch them on top as you wish.
This is a great make-ahead meal. The curried meatballs and the sauce keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
Meat: It is worth mentioning that if you are using either ground turkey or chicken, your meatballs will be slightly softer and more tender.
Tomatoes: You need to start with about 3 cups of tomatoes:
Canned crushed tomatoes are my preference
Canned whole tomatoes chopped
I do NOT recommend diced tomatoes as they may have an ingredient to prevent them from breaking down.
Jarred pasta sauce, though this will be thicker and will need more pasta water to dilute it.
Fresh tomatoes, either regular if in season, or Italian Roma or plum tomatoes chopped.
Binder: I have played with chickpea flour as a binder but the meatballs came out quite dense. If you are needing a gluten-free solution, take your favorite gluten-free bread and allow it to dry out overnight, then crumble on chop to use instead of the panko crumbs. Trader Joe's has rice flour panko crumbs that are an option as well.
Instead of spaghetti: Polenta would be a perfect foundation for these meatballs and it has the advantage of being gluten-free. You can also cook up any gluten-free pasta you love.
Stovetop: If you want to keep all your cooking to the stovetop, simply sauté the meatballs in a frying pan.
Nutrition: Please note that the nutrition information is for the meatballs, sauce, and pasta for 6 people. Depending on the appetite of your diners and what else you are serving, these amounts for curry meatballs might be for 4 hungry people.