Shefele aka Lamb Rice Balls

- February 22, 2015

This idea of mine is multicultural in that depending on what you add in terms of spices and herbs it can represent many diverse cultures.

If you've read any of my other posts you know I love taking photos of my ingredients. Photos tell a story. The story involves going to the store, buying the necessary ingredients and preparing them for a special dish. This dish was spontaneous meaning I did not know what I was going to make for dinner until I saw the lamb in the meat case. My food stories are always serendipitous and diverse.

Two pounds of Ground Lamb

Minced green onion. Note: there is also minced shallots but I forgot to take a photo. Damn I need an assistant.

Minced garlic

Chopped cilantro

Toasted pine nuts

Golden raisins

This is where the multicultural stuff comes into play. From here you can change the ingredients to represent any culture. In my case my dish had a Moroccan flare to it. I added salt, pepper, Cinnamon, Lemon Zest, Turmeric and nutmeg. If you wanted an Indian version you could have added Garam Masla and curry instead of the Turmeric and Cinnamon. Just use your imagination and create what ever you want. Some cultures that come to mind are North Africa, Ethiopian, Greek, Middle Eastern and Israeli. I also added two eggs to bind it together. This step can be done hours in advance.

Fry up a meatball and give it a taste and adjust seasoning if need be. The sauce to the left is a Greek yogurt sauce.

Make some sticky rice. I added salt, pepper, olive oil, shallot, green onion and Turmeric for flavor.

After rice has cooled make your football shaped balls. Grab a bunch of rice and squeeze until it binds. Place a large golf ball chunk of meat inside and shape into desired shape. This step can be done hours in advance.