Swedish Meat Balls

Swedish Meat Balls

This dish was the first Nordic dish I ever had. I was bowled over by this fabulous tasting dish. I instantly made it a point to note down the recipe from the chef (though it needed a whole lot of pestering). This was the first Non-Indian dish I cooked for my the then would-be-hubby's friends and was instantly crowned as the best chef of that evenings potluck. I am sure, this dish can win any heart in an instance. So if you want to woo someone, cook this wonderful dish for him/her.

Preparation time  : 20 minutes
Cooking time       : 30 minutes
Difficulty              : Easy
Serves                  : 4

Ingredients :

900 grams of Chicken or Turkey minced (the original version calls for Turkey, you can safely use chicken) 

1 Egg

3/4 cup Breadcrumbs

1 teaspoon Salt, or to taste 

1/2 cup Milk

2 teaspoons Lemon Pepper Seasoning (this is available in bottles @ Super markets, in case you don't get it, use regular Pepper)

1 teaspoon Paprika (you can use Kashmiri Mirch Powder instead) 

1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg (Jaiphal) 

2 tablespoons chopped Parsley

1 tablespoon Onion flakes (available in bottles, if unavailable, finely mince onion, deep fry the, cool and crush)

Vegetable Oil for frying 

1 ltr of Chicken broth (you can also dissolve 4 cubes in 1 ltr of water, but in that case totally omit Salt) 

2 -3 cups home made White Sauce (Recipe given below) 

Hot cooked Egg noodles or Pasta 1 Pack (as per packet instruction)

Method :

1) Take a big bowl. Combine the first ten ingredients and shape into 1 1/2" meatballs. Set then aside on a plate.

2)  Heat Oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat , brown meatballs in batches, turning carefully every few minutes to brown all sides, maintaining meatball shape. Once fried put them on another plate.

Note:  First try with 1 meatball, if it does not hold, mix 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs to the mixture and then fry. This can happen if the mince contains fat. So while buying try to get chicken/turkey as much fat-less as possible

3 ) In the same skillet, first remove the blackened leftovers from the meatball then add chicken broth and simmer for 15 minutes.

4) Add white sauce to the broth. If you feel too lazy to prepare the white sauce use a pack of ready to cook Mushroom soup. The taste would be better than that with white sauce. But white sauce is tradition.

5 )  Stir well and cook for 3-4 minutes till the sauce thickens. Add meatballs to the sauce and immediately take off the heat. Your Meat Balls are ready.

6) Pre - cook and keep a bowl of egg noodles or Pasta ready. Pour the Meat Balls on the noodles/pasta and serve hot.