Anandhi Erachi Urundai Curry

Mutton keema (mutton minced): 500 grams 

Whole dry red chillies: 4 

Roasted gram/pottu kadalai/varu kadalai: 1 tablespoon Cashewnuts: 8 

Fennel seeds: 1/2 tablespoon 

Grated coconut: 4 tablespoons 

Small onions/Shallots: 12 to 14 

Garlic flakes: 8

Grated ginger: 3 tablespoon 

Cardamom: 4 

Cinnamon sticks: 2 

Cloves: 3 

Star anise: 2 

Coriander seeds: ½ teaspoon 

Curry leaves: few chopped fine/few whole 

Egg: 2 

Fennel seeds: 1 tablespoon 

Cumin: 1 tablespoon

Pepper: 3 chopped fine 

Green chillies: ¼ teaspoon 

All herbs rosemary, thyme, coriander, basil: ½ cup chopped fine 

Lemon juice/ vinegar: 1 teaspoon 

Salt: to taste 

Oil: to deep fry 

Roasted rava: 1 tablespoon (only if needed) 

Onion: 1 cup, chopped 

Tomatoes: 1 tablespoon 

Ginger/garlic paste: 1 teaspoon 

Green chllies cut: 1 teaspoon 

Red chilly powder: 1 teaspoon 

Coriander powder: 1 teaspoon 

Garam masala powder: 1 teaspoon 

Cashewnut paste: 1 teaspoon 

Khus khus [poppy seeds paste: 1 teaspoon 

Salt to taste 

Oil : 1 teaspoon 

Curry leaves/fresh coriander paste: 2 tablespoons Fennel seeds powder: 1 teaspoon 

Cumin powder: ½ teaspoon 

Fresh coconut milk : 2 cups 

Fresh coriander and curry leaves chopped: ¼ cup

Heat oil and add cinnamon, cardamom, clove, cardamom, red chilies, coriander, cumin, pepper, star anise and chopped curry leaves. Once they crackle add ginger and sauté. Top with garlic, small onions and sauté for a few seconds. 

Add the herbs, red chilies, cashew and sauté till the ingredients get roasted well. Then add fennel seeds and sauté until a nice aroma comes in. 

Add coconut, sauté it. 

Finally add roasted gram and roast slightly. Set aside and cool completely.  

Heat little oil and sauté the minced mutton for 5 – 8 minutes. 

See to it that it gets half-cooked and water gets dried up completely. Cool the minced mutton. Grind all the roasted ingredients together except for minced mutton without adding water. 

Then add mutton and salt. Grind to get thick smooth dough like mass of mixture. Add egg to the ground mixture and mix well. Add lime juice. Make small, round and smooth lemon sized balls. Use rice flour/rava (suji) as a coating if needed to bind it properly. 

Heat oil to deep fry on a medium flame. Deep fry the mutton urundais till they attain a dark golden-brown colour. Drain excess oil by placing them on tissue paper and keep aside. For meat balls to remain soft and tender, soak in very hot water for a few seconds soon after frying.

Heat oil in a wok or saucepan. 

Add onions and sauté. 

Add ginger/garlic paste sauté. 

Add green/ red chilly powder sauté. 

Add cut tomatoes sauté.

Add khus khus and cashewnut paste sauté. 

Add curry leaves and coriander paste, then saute. 

Add the rest of the masalas and sauté. 

Add salt and a little water. 

When the whole gravy turns light brown, add the coconut milk and let it simmer. 

Now add the mutton balls and sauté for 5 minutes on low flame. 

Remove and sprinkle curry leaves, fried in ghee and chopped fresh coriander leaves. 

Serve hot with rice/ dosa/chapathi. 

If you cook this dish in a mud pot, it tastes even better. 

Make sure to use the exact quantity of ingredients mentioned or else the kola will not taste or turn out how one would desire. 

While grinding the mutton mixture don’t add water or else it will absorb more oil. 

Heat oil on medium flame to deep fry. If fried on high flame, the outer layer becomes dark very fast while the meat does not cook well inside. 

You can reserve some ground mixture in the fridge and make some fresh urandais next day.  

Make even lemon size balls without cracks. Bigger mutton balls will lead to uneven cooking of the meat and the cracks in the balls might not make the dish look appetising. 

You can follow the same recipe with chicken mince.  

Freshly squeezed coconut milk is a better option but you can use tinned version, if former is not available.

If any dish has excess salt, there are two remedies. If it is gravy add some milk. This will absorb the excess salt and milk added to anything gives a great taste as well. If it is a dry vegetable, cut the potatoes fry without salt and add to the salty vegetable. It will absorb salt and potatoes go with most vegetables.