Hot Balls

Hi All

South Africans are quite adventurous when it comes to using spices in our food, but I think the Moroccans are a little hotter than we are.

Their food is picture perfect, the colour combinations are amazing. One of the main herbs that the Moroccans use is Mint. It must not be taken lightly, some of the vendors in the market sell mint bundles to hide the terrible smells.

I was doing a bit of research on Morocco because I am keen to take the Family there in the not to distant future and came across a recipe for riatha, this is served in a little glass so when eating it takes the burning sensation out of the dish. The question posed in the article was, why not make it mild in the first place?

Well, because in Morocco you want to taste all the spices and appreciate the blend of flavours without dulling the experience. Riatha neutralises the heat and heightens your taste buds' facilities, to quote the Country Cousin, Johan Eksteen.

The recipes I am going to leave you with today are by Kim Brackenridge of "7 on Kelner Restaurant", Bloemfontein.

I am going to try them out when I am in Bloem from the 3rd till the 9th of November and will let you in on my evening their.

HAVE A GOOD ONE.

MEATBALLS

Ingredients:
900g ground beef
2 slices of white bread
2 tsp of pounded cumin seeds
1 tsp of pounded dried red chilli
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tsp paprika
2 eggs
2 onions - grated
Serves 4 - 6 people

Method:

Place meat in a bowl.
Use a food processor to crumb the slices of bread.
Add all the ingredients together and mix well with wet hands and roll into balls the size of golf balls.
These can be cooked straightaway or put into the fridge for a day.
To cook, place on a baking tray and cook in pre-heated oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

Mint and Almond Couscous

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
500g couscous
Handful of fresh mint
125g flaked Almonds

Method:

Cook couscous according to packaging.
Toast almonds in the oven.
Roughly chop up the mint leaves.
Mix all together and season with salt and pepper.

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tsp chopped garlic
Olive oil, salt and pepper
2 red onions finely chopped
4 large cinnamon sticks
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh chopped chilli
2 x 400g tins peeled tomatoes
400ml water

Method:

Saute onions until soft, then add all the ingredients. Cook slowly for about 20 minutes.

Riatha

Mix the following ingredients: 500ml plain yoghurt, half a cucumber finely diced, 1 tsp ground cumin and a pinch of salt.

Serving Method:

Place meatballs on top of couscous ( 4 per person ). Spoon sauce over and sprinkle fresh coriander and almonds to garnish.
Serve with riatha in a small glass.