Nisha Katona’s fridge raid curry
It's a familiar sight in every household, veg and greens in the fridge, getting softer by the day. But instead of letting it go to waste, why not give your leftovers a new lease of life? Our spice queen Nisha has just the dish, her 'back-of-the-fridge' meatball curry is not only bursting with flavour, but it’s budget-friendly too, costing less than £1 per portion.
Nisha’s spinach meatball curry
Serves: 4
Ingredients
100ml vegetable oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 cubes frozen crushed ginger or 2 thumb-sized pieces fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cubes frozen crushed garlic or 6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp garam masala (30g)
1/4 tsp chilli powder (0.5g)
1 tsp ground turmeric (2g)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
400g chopped tomatoes
80g baby spinach leaves
For the meatballs:
400g pork mince
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
To serve:
Cooked rice
Method
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes, until the onions have started to turn golden brown.
2. While the onions are cooking, put all the ingredients for the meatballs in a large bowl and mix with your hands until well combined. Set aside.
3. Add the garam masala, chilli powder and ground turmeric to the pan with the onions and stir to combine, then tip in the salt, sugar, chopped tomatoes and 400ml of boiling water and stir again until well combined. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the head to a lively simmer and leave to bubble away while you make the meatballs.
4. Take a heaped teaspoon of the meatball mixture and roll in your hands to form a small meatball. Set aside and repeat the process until all of the meat is used up.
5. Drop the meatballs into the simmering sauce and stir to coat the meat in the sauce. Leave to cook for 10 minutes, then stir through the spinach and cook for 5 minutes more.
6. Divide the curry between serving plates or bowl and serve garnished with fresh coriander and with cooked rice alongside.