Moroccan beef meatballs, harissa and couscous

This is a tasty recipe in which the family will love. The recipe requires lamb, but I had beef mince in the freezer so I incorporate that into the recipe.

The recipe to make the Moroccan meat balls

The ingredients

2 teaspoons of cumin seeds

2 tablespoons of coriander seeds

50g of breadcrumbs

1 crushed garlic clove

500 beef mince (lamb mince)

juice of a lemon

1 egg

20 grams of chopped mint

The method

In a pan heat the cumin and coriander seeds for about 2 to 3 minutes. The seeds should be giving off a wonderful aroma. Remove the seeds from the pan and crush them with a mortar and pestle.

In a bowl add the beef mince, breadcrumbs (I made my own by processing bread in a food processor) garlic, lemon juice, crushed spices, egg and mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix all the ingredients until well combined and roll them into balls.

In a frying pan, heat the oil and then fry the meatballs until cooked. I found it at this point my nice spherical balls became slightly flat on the side in which they were being cooked on. Now that is the beef meat balls done.

Now for the harissa

The ingredients

2 tablespoons of coriander seeds

2 tablespoons of cumin seeds

4 garlic cloves

1 chopped red onion

1 chopper capsicum

6 red chillies

The method

In a frying pan, heat the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant. You could also heat the cumin and coriander seeds for the meatballs at the same time to save some time. Once done, crush the seeds in a mortar and pestle.

In the frying pan, an oil and fry the garlic, onions, capsicum and chillies until soft and remove from the pan.

Place the vegetable and seeds into and blender and process it until it is smooth. The smooth paste that is harrisa is brilliant to have with anything. I even spread some on my sandwich to give it a bit of omf factor. Without a bit of spice I feel like my meal is not complete.

The couscous

For the couscous, I bought a packet from the shops, that had some added spices and all I had to do was add hot water to it. With some occasional stirring, the couscous was ready in a matter of minutes.

Serve the meatballs with the couscous and top it off with some harissa and yogurt. 

Yes, my plating technique requires some work