Anytime I make meatballs, my family is happy. Anytime I make lettuce wraps my family is happy. So put the two together and I have a ridiculously happy family. Although we love this recipe anytime of year (these make great rice bowls as well!), this recipe for Tandoori Chicken Meatball Lettuce Wraps is a great meal for the hot days of summer. You can serve the meatballs warm or chilled and with this recipe you have “herbal flexibility.” If you’re not a fan of mint, use basil. If you not a fan of cilantro, do not include it or offer it only as a garnish. Hope you like this one!
Makes approximately 16 meatballs / 8 lettuce wraps
TANDOORI CHICKEN MEATBALLS:
- 1-1/2 lb organic ground chicken
- 1 C while onion finely chopped
- 3 T fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 C white basmati rice, cooked, plus more for wraps
- 1 organic egg
- 1/2 C fresh organic mint, chopped, plus more whole leaves for wraps
- 1/4 C fresh organic cilantro, chopped
- 2 tsp toasted coriander, ground
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp toasted fennel, ground
- 1 T paprika
- 1 T fresh turmeric, finely grated (or ground turmeric)
- 3 T fresh lime juice
- 2 T fresh ginger, grated
- 1 T organic sugar or agave
- 1/2 T Kosher salt
- 3 C white basmati, cooked according to directions
- 16 lettuce leaves (preferably green leaf or butter lettuce)
- !/2 C thinly sliced red onion
MINT CILANTRO CHUTNEY
Makes 1 Cup
- 2 C fresh organic cilantro, stems and leaves
- 1 C fresh organic mint leaves (no stems)
- 1 large jalapeno with seeds (remove seeds if you want less heat)
- 2 T fresh garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tsp toasted cumin
- 1 T fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp fresh lime zest
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp organic sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 T water (if needed)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 450.
In a large mixing bowl add in ground chicken, onion, garlic, rice, egg, mint, cilantro, coriander, garam masala, fennel, paprika, turmeric, lime, ginger, sugar (or agave) and salt. Gently mix so to incorporate all ingredients. On a parchment lined baking sheet, place meatballs. I made 1-1/2 inch balls. Once all the meat is rolled into balls, place in over and bake for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until you’re ready to serve. While meatballs are cooking you can make your chutney. Add all ingredients to your food processor and blend until well incorporated. Chutney is typically a bit chunkier than pesto, but the consistency is completely up to you. If you need to add a little water to the mixture, you can. Taste and season with salt if necessary.
TO SERVE PREMADE LETTUCE WRAPS: On a large platter, place lettuce leaves and bowl of chutney. Top each leaf with a couple tablespoons of basmati rice (slightly cooled or chilled). Top rice with one or two meatballs (depending on how large you made yours), mint and cilantro leaves and sliced red onion. Invite everyone to serve themselves and top their wrap with chutney, An alternative serving method would be to put out platters of lettuce leaves, meatballs and garnishes and a bowl of chutney and let everyone build their own wrap.
COOK’S NOTES
- With green leaf lettuce, we doubled the leaf wrap to hold the weight of the rice and meatballs. We like green leaf because it’s a larger platform, but butter lettuce can hold up to the weight of rice and meatballs and only require one leaf per wrap.
- If you do not like mint or cilantro, you can use Thai basil or regular basil in place of one or both
- Offering a cucumber yogurt sauce is also a nice addition to this recipe.
- Garnish with pickled red onion in place of non-pickled onion.