My husband and I once went to an Armenian restaurant and ordered this dish to be adventurous. We fell in love with it. Now that I live with him in the US, we both miss this dish. Since cherry is in season now, I thought to myself, why not make one of our favorite dishes.
This recipe makes 35 meatballs.
Ingredients
For the cherry sauce
- 300 g Fresh or Frozen Cherries
- 1 tbsp Pomegranate Molasses
- 1 Cup Water
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Corn Starch
- Pines (for decoration)
- Parsley (for decoration)
For the meatballs
- 500 g Ground Beef (with 15% fat)
- 1 Small Onion
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 2 tbsp Flour
- Salt
- Black Pepper
- 7 Spices
Making the Meatballs
I chopped my onion and garlic in the food processor. I then added my ground beef and all the meatball spices and processed everything together. After they mixed well, I took a scoop of meat and rolled it between my palms until it was shaped like a ball. I then dipped the meatballs in flour. I repeated the process for the rest of the meat. I then fried my meatballs in a bit of oil until they browned. I set them aside and prepared the sauce.
Making the Cherry Sauce
I started by pitting and removing the stems of the cherries, and cut each one in half. I then put my cherries in a large sauce pan on medium heat. When the cherries softens and the cherry juices started releasing, I added the sugar, the water, the pomegranate molasses and the corn starch. I processed everything together with my hand blender and made sure all the cherries liquefied (this step is optional if you like a chunky sauce, skip this step). I let the sauce boil and reduce until it became thick and coated the back of a spoon.
At this point my sauce was ready. I added my meatballs to the saucepan and kept them on medium heat for about 5 minutes. I then placed them in the serving plate and decorated with roasted pines and a bit of chopped parsley.
My husband and I enjoyed this awesome dish with pita bread. You can alternatively serve rice as a side dish.
Enjoy! 🙂
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