Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs

Delicious Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs – sounds like a wonderful meal, but a lot of hassle, right? Actually no! This impressive meal is a cinch to make and takes just 30 minutes – perfect for a midweek treat or a hassle-free dinner party – promise I won’t tell 😉

This year I’ve teamed up with the ‘LAMB. Tasty Easy Fun’ campaign to share my love of lamb and to bring you lots of delicious and easy lamb recipes.

I’ve had the idea to make Middle Eastern spiced lamb meatballs in mind for a while now – My whole family absolutely loved the Italian-style Lamb Meatballs from the ‘LAMB. Tasty Easy Fun’ website, that we reviewed back in January and, as you know, I’m a huge fan of Middle Eastern style food – especially lamb tagines! So the idea of creating Middle Eastern-style meatballs was high on my must try list.

Another dish that has been high on my must make dish for some time is a simplified version of Persian-style Jewelled Rice…it’s a beautiful, impressive and incredible tasting side dish, but also a rather complicated and time consuming one…normally. I wanted to see if I could create a version that looked the part and tasted just as incredible, but without the hassle and I am so pleased to have finally come up with an easy peasy version I am happy with.

Put the meatballs and the jewelled rice together and you have a really special meal, but amazingly, it’s actually very simple and only takes 30 minutes from start to finish. Yes, really! The secret is doing everything in the right order…

For a quick and hassle-free approach, make the meatballs first. Then, whilst the meatballs are grilling, make the rice. When the meatballs are done, get them out and leave them on the side until they are needed. Then make the meatball sauce and plop the meatballs in, making sure they are heated through. Done this way, everything should be ready within that 30 minutes and no trying to juggle too many things at once!

Don’t be put off by the list of ingredients, it’s mostly spices or things which are very quick to prepare, and quite a few ingredients are repeated (I have separated out the 3 elements, for clarity), so it’s not as complicated as it might first look!

Being so quick and simple, but looking and tasting really good, means this Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs would be totally possible for a midweek treat, but would work brilliantly for a weekend or dinner party meal too.

Actually, I’m quite tempted to make this next time my husband and I have a date night in…(we have two small children so date nights out are as rare as hens teeth) – this ticks all the boxes…delicious, impressive, but quick and easy…and it would be super fun to make together!

If you do want to make this for a dinner party, I would really recommend making the meatballs and meatball sauce ahead of time and prepping all the bits you will need for the rice just before your guests arrive (especially de-seeding the pomegranate! Or make your life eaven easier and just buy the seeds.). This way you can quickly make the rice at the last minute and warm through the meatballs and sauce. You could also serve some more mint, pomegranate seeds and orange peel on the table for everyone to help themselves to extra.

If you want to add a side dish to this lovely meal, I would suggest this simple Middle-Eastern Inspired Salad.

For me the perfect wine for this meal would be a Spanish Garnacha-based Rosé from somewhere like Rioja or Navarra. However if you prefer red, a Grenache/Garnacha based red from Southern France or Spain would work well too.

5 from 3 votes

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Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs

Delicious Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs – sounds like a wonderful meal, but a lot of hassle, right? Actually no! This impressive meal is a cinch to make and takes just 30 minutes – perfect for a midweek treat or a hassle-free dinner party - promise I won’t tell 😉

Recipe Type Main Course, Meatballs

Cuisine Fusion, Middle Eastern, Moroccan, Persian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Serves 4 people

Calories 847 kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

Spicy Lamb Meatballs

• 700 g lamb mince
• 2 garlic cloves crushed or grated
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika ideally smoked
• Salt and pepper

Meatball Sauce

• 2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
• 1 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic crushed or grated
• 2 cm ginger grated
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 teaspoon cumin ground, or seeds
• 2 teaspoons paprika ideally smoked
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander chopped (plus extra for garnish)

Persian Jewelled Rice

• 2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
• Pinch saffron
• 600 ml boiling water
• 1 onion sliced
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 8 cardamom pods gently bashed (use a pestle and mortar or a rolling pin)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 semi-dried apricots finely chopped
• 300 g basmati rice
• 2 tablespoons mint finely chopped
• 100 g pomegranate seeds (roughly 1/2 a pomegranate)
• Zest of 1 orange

Metric - US Customary

Method

1. Start by preparing the meatballs. Pre-heat your grill to medium high, then mix together all the meatball ingredients thoroughly with your hands and shape into 30 balls. Place the meatballs on a grill tray and cook for 4 minutes on each side (8 minutes in total). Remove from the grill and set aside until needed.
2. While the meatballs are grilling, make the rice. Start by placing the saffron in a jug and pouring over the boiling water. Next, gently fry the onions in the oil for 3 minutes until softened. Add the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods together with the apricots, and cook over a low heat for 2 more minutes. Add the rice and the saffron-infused water and cook for 8 minutes on a low heat with the lid on. After 8 minutes turn the heat off, but leave the lid on until you serve the rice.
3. While the rice is cooking, make the meatball sauce. Gently fry the onions in the oil for 3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic, ginger, chilli and other spices and cook on a low heat for 2 more minutes. Add the coconut milk and tomato puree, plus a little salt and pepper, and heat until bubbling. Gently drop in the meatballs and heat until bubbling again, spooning the sauce over the meatballs to coat them. When bubbling, stir in the chopped coriander and remove from the heat.
4. Place the rice in a serving bowl and top with the mint, pomegranate seeds and orange zest, serve with the meatballs and any other side dishes you fancy, such as my Middle-Eastern Inspired Salad.

Notes

Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition Facts

Persian Jewelled Rice and Spicy Lamb Meatballs

Amount Per Serving

Calories 847 Calories from Fat 315

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 35g 54%

Saturated Fat 15g 75%

Cholesterol 113mg 38%

Sodium 435mg 18%

Potassium 1198mg 34%

Total Carbohydrates 88g 29%

Dietary Fiber 6g 24%

Sugars 15g

Protein 44g 88%

Vitamin A 37.4%

Vitamin C 12.8%

Calcium 10.8%

Iron 45.4%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

This is a collaborative post with the ‘LAMB. Tasty Easy Fun’ campaign. ‘LAMB. Tasty Easy Fun’ is an EU funded campaign which aims to increase the use of lamb in everyday cooking.  Lamb is often considered difficult to cook, expensive, or something to be saved for Sunday roasts. The aim of the campaign is to demonstrate just how tasty, easy and fun lamb is to cook with every day of the week! They also have a wonderful website, full of tasty and easy lamb recipes that go way beyond the traditional roast lamb we all know and love.

Want more delicious lamb recipes? Find more here…

Want more delicious and hassle-free midweek meals? Find more here…

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