With kudos to Keith Levenberg - Spicy Cumin Lamb Meatballs

Keith Levenberg posted on this recipe on Facebook. Spicy Cumin Lamb Meatballs Recipe - Mary-Frances Heck. I have now made it twice, including 75 meatballs for a pot luck dinner at my synagogue on Friday in which I substituted coconut milk for the cream so I could claim it was kosher “style.” The recipe is also amenable to almost infinite variations. Last night, I took leftover uncooked mix from making the Friday pot luck dinner, ground in about an equal amount of beef round sprinkled with paprika, added more cilantro and parsley, and made a variation which I covered with a paprika, sour cream and leftover coconut milk sauce.

The key is the technique, which is similar to what I do with lamb burgers. Cut the raw meat into convenient pieces, sprinkle with spices, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours before grinding. The only variation is that I ran the toasted cumin seeds through a spice grinder in advance for smoother texture. I always ground the meat for the burgers twice, but I never added the other stuff from the recipe before. Doing so works very well. The rice and panko absorb all the delicious fat from the meat. Next time I think I’ll make Tex-Mex meatballs with cumin, cilantro, parsley, assorted chili peppers and Mexican oregano. Then I’ll go with Indian with lots of turmeric and cardamom. Using meat from a round roast on sale at Shoprite actually makes it very cheap.