Red curry meatballs with longan

Juicy meatballs, luscious coconut milk, warming chilies... not even vaguely healthy, but I don't care. Making your own Thai red curry paste is dead easy, and allows you to easily adjust the amount of chilli to suit your own palate (plus you know exactly what you're eating).

Recipe

Red curry paste:
1 tsp oil
1 small onion, minced or finely diced
2-4 tsp minced red chilli
1 tsp minced lemongrass
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced galangal
1 tsp finely shredded kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp ground coriander

Meatballs:
250g beef mince
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp finely shredded kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp minced chilli
1 tsp corn flour
1 small egg

300g asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tin longans, drained
1 tsp fish sauce
200ml coconut milk
Rice to serve

First, make the meatballs: mix all the ingredients together and form into tablespoon sized balls. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil and add all the curry paste ingredients. Cook stirring regularly for 5-6 minutes until the onions are soft, adding a splash of water if it looks in danger of sticking or burning.

Lay the meatballs in the pan in a single layer. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce, and enough water to bring the liquid 3/4 of the way up the meatballs.

Simmer gently 3-4 minutes, until the meatballs are brown on the bottom, then carefully turn. Lay the asparagus on top, and cover with a lid. Continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked all the way through, and the asparagus has steamed.

Mix in the longans and serve (they don't require any cooking but will go soggy if left too long on the heat, so they're added at the last minute).

Serve on rice.

Note: If you've gone lighter on the red chillies and your paste is a bit anemic looking, you can always cheat and add half a tsp tomato paste. It results in a slightly more orangy shade of red than pure chillies would, but who really cares?

Serves: 2-3
Preparation and cooking time: 20-25 minutes