Sri Lankan creamy meatball Curry

Sri Lankan creamy meatball curry made with coconut milk. An easy one-pot recipe for all the meatball lovers. It’s spicy, creamy, and goes well with bread, rice, and string hoppers.

This creamy meatball curry is a lifesaver for me. I love it because it’s so versatile and very easy to make. I don’t even have to thaw the meatballs. All I have to do is to take the packet of meatballs out of the freezer and dump the meatballs into the pot. It’s a great substitute for any meat curry in your Sri Lankan lunch or dinner. And most of all it’s a one-pot dish. Which means only one dish to wash. Yay!

What you basically do in this meatball recipe is,

1. temper the aromatics first.
2. Then roast the spices in oil.
3. Add the sour ingredients.
4. cook the meatballs in water to get them tender and infuse with the spices.
5. Finally add coconut milk to make the dish creamy and cook it down so your gravy becomes thick, dark, and delicious.

Essential steps, Substitutions, and tips:

• You can adjust the recipe as per your taste. I personally like the curry to be spicy. So I use red chili powder and a green chili which is packed with heat. If you can’t handle spice, then you can use paprika instead. Or reduce the amount of chili powder you use.
• Roasting spices in oil is a must. one, it releases the essential oils in the spices to the cooking oil. two, the curry gets darker, richer in color. three, it adds a nice toasty flavor and aroma to the curry.
• You can use any type of meatballs for the curry. I like the homestyle (original) meatballs. The flavored meatballs like Italian style meatballs can alter the taste of the curry.
• Sour ingredients are a must in most Sri Lankan meat curry dishes. For this one I only use tomatoes. You can use tamarind paste or vinegar instead. Or use a combination of sour ingredients.
• for the curry to get thicker and darker, cook the curry down after you add the coconut milk. But make sure to do it in low to medium-low heat. high heat can curdle up the coconut milk.

I hope you give this recipe a try. It’s best to serve warm with rice and curries or with bread. With rice or bread and, coconut sambol is my favorite way to eat this Sri Lankan creamy meatball curry.

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Sri Lankan creamy meatball Curry

Author: Roshani Wickramasinghe Cuisine: Sri Lankan Recipe Keys: Spicy

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 mins Cook Time 30 mins Total Time 40 mins

Servings: 5

Ingredients

Servings

• 1 lb Meatballs

• 1 small piece of ginger (about 1 inch)

• 3 cloves of garlic

• ¹⁄₃ cup Finely chopped onion

• 1 Sprig of curry leaves

• 1 Small pandan leaf broken into pieces

• 1 Piece of Ceylon cinnamon (about 3 inches long)

• 3 Cardamom pods

• ¹⁄₂ tbsp Sri Lankan unroasted curry powder

• ¹⁄₂ tbsp Red chili powder

• ¹⁄₄ tsp Turmeric powder

• 1 Green chili

• 1 Medium tomato diced

• ¹⁄₂ cup water

• ¹⁄₂ cup coconut milk (I use canned)

• 2 tsp Coconut oil/canola oil/vegetable oil

• Salt as needed

Instructions

1. Crush cardamom, ginger and garlic in a mortar and pestle to a coarse paste.

2. Heat coconut oil in the pan.  Then add the piece of cinnamon, Pandan leaf, and curry leaves.

   breaking the curry leaves before adding them, helps the essential oils to release more into the curry

3. Then add your freshly made ginger and garlic paste, finely chopped onions. Fry until the onions start to get brown.