I tried my own cooking-concept version of this authentic Arabic recipe and came up with this amazing balanced and delicious meal . it have a fresh taste with a perfect sweet/sour balance with no need for the extra sugar and fat.
Ingredients
for the meatballs
600gminced lean beef
1bigoniongrated
4glovesgarlicminced
4tbsppine nuts
1tspgrounded cinnamon
1tspsweet pepper
1tspsalt
1/4 tspgrounded nutmeg
1tspseven spices
for the cherry sauce
2 cupsvachna* cored Cherrycan be frozen
4onionsslice into wedges
1/4cuplemon juice
2stickscinnamon
3tbspbrown sugar
1/2cupwater
1/2 tbsprapeseed oil *
for garnish:
1/4 cupparsleychopped
1tbsppine nuts
Instructions
for the meatballs
mix all the ingredients together and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
after 30 minutes remove from fridge and form into balls equal to the size of a walnut. around 1/2 tbsp per ball.I cooked mine in an air-fryer but you can wipe a non-sticking pan with some oil and grill the meatballs turning over occasional so it brown evenly for about 5-7 minutes. set aside while preparing the cherry sauce.
for the cherry sauce
soak your cherries for 30 minutes and drain it well before start cooking with it.keep 1 cup of the cherry water.
heat the oil in a non stick deep pan .add the onion and saute until it turn transparent.
add the cherry, lemon juice, cinnamon stick and 1/2 cup of the cherry water.bring to boil . lower the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes till thicken.
add the meatballs and let it simmer for an extra 10 minutes so the meatballs are completely done.if the sauce get to dry after simmering you can add the remaining 1/2 cup of the cherry water and simmer it for an extra 5 minutes.
for serving
sprinkle the parsley and pine nuts on top of it and serve it with some mashed potato , rice or toasted Arabic bread on the side.enjoy!
Notes
vachna cherry or wachna cherry is a type of cherry that have a sweet and sour taste , it is normally Turkish or Serbian cherry that you can find in the frozen section.if yo don't have rapeseed oil you can use any kind of neutral vegetable oil .the traditional recipe serve this dish on a base of Arabic toasted pitta but to make it a balanced meal a serve it with some mashed potato or steamed rice.