Anuta's Ukrainian Sweet & Sour Meatballs
My grandmother makes this recipe; it's a family favorite. You can make the meatballs small-sized for an appetizer, or larger for a main dish. DON'T serve them over spaghetti, its not Italian, its Ukrainian!
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground meat
- 1/2 (dry) cup rice, cooked
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil + enough for frying
- 1 onion, finely chopped (for meat mixture)
- 1 onion, chopped (for sauce)
- ketchup
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
Method
Meatballs
Cook rice until almost done.
Mix ground meat, salt, pepper, egg, about 1 tablespoon veg. oil, cooked rice and onion (chopped very finely)
Form the meatballs, dip them lightly in flour, fry (until almost done)
Sauce:
In a pot fry onion with 1 tsp flour. Add ketchup mixed with water and 1 teaspoon sugar and bay leaf.
Add the meatballs to the pot (there should be enough sauce in it to come level with the meatballs; if there isn't enough initually, add more water mixed with ketchup and add enough flour to the sauce for it to thicken to the desired consistency; you can add more sugar to taste), and simmer covered 10-15 min.