Made this last night from odds and ends around the house – worked out as a nice set of contrasts in flavours
You will need: minced beef, half a red onion, paprika, salt, pepper, red chillis, korma paste, tomato puree, water, worcester sauce, spaghetti, olive oil
fine chop the half onion and add the mince with a generous couple of shakes of paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Add a couple of teaspoons of red chillis (I use very lazy red chillis, but fine chopped fresh or other similar products will do.
Squish and roll all these into small meatballs about the width of the top joint of your thumb and leave to stand for an hour. There will almost certainly be bits of onion left over or that don’t stick to the meatballs – leave these to one side for the sauce.
When ready to cook, put the kettle on for boiling water to start the spaghetti and add olive oil to a deep frying pan or wok. Bring to a medium heat and add the leftover onion and allow to caramalise to a golden colour.
The kettle should be boiled by now so add enough spaghetti for the number of people you’re cooking, add a dash of oil to stop the pasta sticking and add the boiling water, putting the pan on a high heat and stirring occasionally.
Return to your frying pan and add a good squirt of tomato puree and a couple of teaspoons of korma paste (I use Patak’s, but whatever equivalent you have will do). Mix with the oil and a dash of water and bring to full heat.
Add the meatballs and fry them up, shaking the pan back and forth to prevent sticking while they initially cook – then gently stirring once they’re not in danger of losing shape too badly. Add a dash of worcester sauce and reduce heat to a low-medium, adding water to feed the sauce in small 10-15ml increments.
Stir thoroughly, and when the spaghetti is ready, drain and rinse with cold water before serving in bowls. Ladle the meatballs and sauce over the spaghetti and serve.
The sauce is quite mild with a gently fruity undertone that contrasts with the heat of the chillis in the meatballs
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