The Global Kitchen: Tikka Masala turkey meatballs with garlic turmeric rice and samosas from India

I have always wanted to make Indian food but was intimidated to try it. Recently I discovered a line of products that helped me realize my goal. Indian As Apple Pie is a brand sold at Harvest Market that is also healthy. This dish was made with the Tikka Masala sauce. I made the meatballs with seasonings from Burlap and Barrel. 

The ingredients:

1lb ground turkey

1/4 C breadcrumbs or panko

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp corriander

1/2 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 TBSP paprika

1/4 tsp red chili flakes

2 tsp of salt

1/2 TBSP ginger

1 TBSP garlic

1/4 C chopped cilantro

The Recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In stand mixer combine all ingredients and mix until well combined.

Make equally sized balls  and place in baking dish that has been greased. 

Bake for 20 minutes. 

Remove from oven and add the Tika Masala sauce and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Making sure meatballs are cooked to 165 degrees.

I also made with this a Garlic Turmeric Rice as a side dish. 

The ingredients:

1 tsp bay leaf pwdr or 1 bay leaf

1 tsp garlic 

1/4 C yellow onion 

1.5 C chicken broth

1 C basmati rice (or Jasmine rice)

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp Turmeric

1 TBSP butter

The Recipe:

Add all ingredients to a rice cooker and stir to mix all the seasonings well. I have an Aroma Touch Rice cooker and select the white rice setting. The rice comes out perfect!

To go with this, I bought some Deep Indian Kitchen chicken samosas which I love. They also have a pea and potato samosa which are great as well, but they are bigger in size. Deep Indian Kitchen is a line of Frozen Indian meals and appetizers. You can find these at the Indian market, Harvest Market, and Target that I know of. If you want to try some Indian and see if you would like it this is a great way to start. 

Overall, I was very happy with my first attempt at making Indian food and it was pretty quick and easy. This meal did have a bit of a spiciness to it just so you are aware. I highly suggest the brands mentioned they are very good. 

Tip: When cooking make sure you read the tsp vs TBSP carefully. I accidentally used TBSP instead of tsp in my meatballs, so they were a little on the salty side. Not bad but just a tip to remember to learn from my mistake. 

I feel like this was a relatively healthy meal minus the samosas. I used lean meats and lots of seasoning for flavor. The sauce is vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free. The sauce is also low carb at only 5G per 1/4 C serving this includes 2G of sugar. I did use basmati rice this time next time I would like to try this with brown rice instead to make it a bit healthier.