Become a sorcerer with these finger-licking-good frikkadels

On Tuesdays or Thursdays my mother would make frikkadels for supper. Yum! With mash, lots of butter and white pepper — remember that original one? Was it Robertsons? We only discovered black pepper when we moved to the city, and even then only in my late teens.

Those were the days when “Steak & Chops” was still a spice in high rotation in our childhood kitchens. So strange to think I have never bought it for my own, instead having sumac in high rotation. And am always on the lookout for “non-irradiated” on spice bottles.

How times change, but rarely does the core of comfort food. Since my first love, my nephew, was born and out of his toddler phase, I haven't made frikkadels much, but his Nissi (his name for his granny) really wanted to make the perfect-sized frikkadels just for him, so we were more involved in plating than cooking those.

There is still something special about giving the dishes we grew up with a twist to introduce them to the loved ones in our family. The best part is how simple this is. I am a fan of a quick meal, especially during the week. Few of us have time for long, slow-cooked items and load-shedding also makes this an ever-increasing Olympic sport of racing against the clock to lights out.

As I sit in my office and the weather outside grows ever inclement, I think about soothing dinners and, of course, mash needs to feature. While I generally prefer my potatoes fried or roasted, mash has a special place. Again, I’m almost skaam to say that milk has been replaced by almond milk, but butter still trends, as does white pepper, the OG kind mentioned above, the one I grew up with that sat right next to the Cerebos salt.

What do I serve it with? Well, my new take on the frikkadel. A version of the meatballs I grew up with, but with chicken mince, a more recent discovery on my meat landscape. I still find that it’s not that readily available, but our local butcher, who makes my friend Nadya and my older sister blush, keeps it stocked and frozen.

I’m not a huge fan of red meat, only eating it when I crave it, but mince has a special place in my heart and stomach. It’s not as overwhelming as a piece of steak or a lamb chop (I can hear my older sister howling in horror at this statement). Chicken is so quick and easy midweek, but grilling breasts or roasting a whole chicken can be such a thing, so making chicken frikkadels, or frikkis as we call them at home, was a real step up.

I made them in 2022 for the first time, just as an experiment, in a simple cumin-tomato sauce. Warm and fragrant, but not your Italian-type offering. My usual dinner guest was over — you know, the one who finds eating is an inconvenience as it gets in the way of work — and he “reluctantly” sampled my experiment. The number of appreciative grunts this dish elicited was truly surprising. He usually errs on the side of blasé. Seconds were had and I always know he’s enjoyed something when he asks me what I put in the dish. I sent him home with a skaftin and received a message the next day at lunchtime, showing me an empty container with the caption: “You and your sorceries.” I assume the leftovers were good.

As with everything, it's hard to replicate a good, first effort. The second time something was missing, but the one thing these meatballs never are is dry. I prep them in the morning before work, then get to rest for the day, before frying them and making the sauce in the same pan afterwards. Building on flavour is one thing, but one-pan dishes are an even better reason for using the same utensil.

Try this dish with mash. I’ve done it with pasta as well. Perhaps you too will discover the sorcery in this sauce.

Meatball ingredients:

1. 500g chicken mince
2. ¼ cup breadcrumbs (I use sourdough that I make and freeze)
3. 2 cloves of garlic grated
4. ½ red onion grated
5. 1 egg
6. Handful chopped Italian parsley
7. 1 small sprig rosemary, chopped
8. 1 leaf fresh sage finely chopped
9. ½ tsp salt
10. Pinch of white pepper
11. 1 teaspoon of cumin

Tomato sauce:

1. 1 ½ teaspoons of cumin
2. ½ teaspoon of turmeric
3. A pinch of ginger powder
4. ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
5. 1 carrot finely chopped
6. 1 stalk of celery finely chopped
7. ½ onion finely chopped
8. 3 garlic cloves crushed
9. 4 whole Roma tomatoes or 1 can tinned tomatoes
10. 1 red chilli chopped (more or less according to taste and heat preference)
11. 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
12. Salt and white pepper to taste

Method:

• Put all the meatball ingredients in a glass mixing bowl and mix gently until well combined.
• Place in a big dish, dusted with flour, and begin to roll meatballs just slightly bigger than a R5 coin.
• Set aside and let them rest for minimum 30 minutes
• When done, fry the meatballs on medium heat until brown on all sides in a little bit of butter. Then set them aside.
• In the same pan, place olive oil, then throw in the onion and stir until a little translucent.
• Then put in the carrots and celery and stir until they heat up with the onions.
• Next, throw in the spices, except cinnamon, and combine with the veggies and oil.
• Then add in a splash of apple cider vinegar to deglaze the pan, followed by the chopped tomatoes.
• Now put in the cinnamon and a hint of sugar if you feel the tomatoes are too tart.
• Stir to combine until it comes to a rolling boil, then add one cup of warm water, salt and pepper. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover the pot.
• Ideally, leave for about 1.5 hours, but one will suffice.
• About 45 minutes into cooking, place the browned meatballs into the sauce and let them simmer therein until serving.

To serve, make pasta or mash, though these meatballs can also be enjoyed cold from the pot.

Wanted Magazine