Tandoori Lamb Balls Recipe from The Meatball Shop

I’ve been experimenting with The Meatball Shop Cookbook ever since I bought it for my boyfriend for Christmas last year. I guess it’s still a gift for him if he gets to eat what I cook, right?

So a few weeks ago I tried my hand at Tandoori Lamb Balls. In a word? Brilliant. I've been participating in a Skillshare class called Show Us Your Balls: Meatball Making with The Meatball Shop, and was able to reflect on having cooked these before watching some of the training videos. There were definitely some pointers that I will use in future meatball recipes.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds ground lamb
• ½ cup bread crumbs
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (stems included)
• juice from 1 lemon
• ¼ cup tandoori spice mix
• 2 teaspoons salt

First thing's first: The tandoori spice:

2 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 2 teaspoons ground coriander; 2 teaspoons sweet paprika; 2 teaspoons tumeric (not pictured); 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper. I know I tweaked this a bit, but it was a while ago and I can't remember what I did.

Question: What is sweet paprika? How is it different from regular paprika? I assume it's sweeter (duh), but figured I'd ask. I decided that as long as I had most of the basic elements, I'd have something close to the intended flavor, so I didn't sweat it too much.

I combined all of my ingredients and made a test meatball on the stove, which I'm proud of since I decided to do this on my own before watching  Meatball Shop co-founder and executive chef Daniel Holzman's training video. He made a good point to flatten the meatball before frying it to test - would have been much faster.

Once I had my flavor down, it was time to roll the balls. Holzman recommends using an ice cream scoop, this way the meatballs are evenly sized, so they will cook evenly.

I combined the balls with The Meatball Shop's Cilantro Yogurt Sauce and a side of roasted Brussels sprouts with apples and honey roasted peca

Next up: I've practiced the basics of making meatballs a few times, so I'd like to try to think up an original recipe next.

Question: What are your favorite kind of meatballs? Do you prefer traditional, or do you have a special unique flavor combination? Please share!

This post is cross-posted from Christina Does, a blog about shopping, beauty, fashion, travel, food, events, and more.