Moroccan Sardine Ball Tagine
A delicious and traditional Moroccan recipe for sardine balls poached in a thick and tangy tomato based sauce.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 500 g fresh sardines (deboned weight) (or the equivalent drained weight canned sardine (see Notes below and article above))
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 1 mild green chilli
- 1 small handful parsley
- 1 small handful fresh coriander leaves ((cilantro))
- 1/2 medium onion ((the other half goes in the sauce) about 80g pre peeled weight)
- 1 tsp cornflour ((cornstarch in the US))
- 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/4 tsp sweet unsmoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 medium onion (about 80g pre peeled weight)
- 2 medium cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp EV olive oil
- 400 g chopped tomatoes from a can (this is 1 large can in the UK)
- 1 tsp sundried tomato paste
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp sweet, unsmoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 pinch sugar
- 1 handful parsley
- 1 handful fresh coriander leaves
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- freshly ground black pepper
- fresh coriander leaves and parsley
- whole pickled chillies (optional)
Instructions
- 1
I get mine already filleted and mostly with their skin off, so I don't need to do much here.Easiest way to debone the fresh sardines is to butterfly them from their fronts, then just pull the main bone off. Don't worry about all the other tiny bones, they'll get soft with the grinding and cooking.Peel off the skin if you want, or leave it on. Set aside while we do the aromatics.
- 2
Peel the garlic and place them in a food chopper. Halve the green chilli and add to the chopper. Chop until fairly fine.
- 3
Add the parsley and coriander leaves (cilantro) and chop again to mix, until the herbs are fully chopped. Scrape down the sides a necessary.
- 4
Add the sardines and everything else, the cornflour, spices, salt, lemon juice and some freshly grated black pepper.Pulse your chopper to mince the fish and to integrate everything thoroughly. Scrape down the sides and keep pulsing.If your chopper isn't big enough, do the sardines in batches, then mix everything up well in a large bowl.When done, tip the whole lot into a large bowl. Cover and leave aside for the flavours to develop while you get the sauce going.
- 5
Chop the half onion and garlic finely.
- 6
Heat the oil in a tagine or deep frying or saucepan. If using a tagine, keep the heat medium-low. Otherwise, medium will do.If using a tagine, don't forget to use a diffuser.When the oil is hot (in a tagine, this could take 5-10 minutes, depending on the heat), fry the chopped onions for 3 minutes.Add the garlic, stir and fry for 1 more minute.
- 7
Pour in the chopped tomatoes, sundried tomato paste, spices, salt, sugar and herbs (reserve about 1 tsp each herb for garnish). Stir well to mix, cover and bring to a simmer. This will take about 10 minutes, we'll go form the sardine balls in the meantime.
- 8
Sardine Balls. Using your hands, form little balls with the sardine paste. The traditional size is pretty small, slightly smaller than ping pong balls. But you can make them bigger, if you prefer.The paste you have will give you about 20-30 balls, depending on the size.
- 9
Slowly place the sardine balls (or kefta) into the tomato sauce in one layer. You'll need a large tagine or pan for the recipe here.Grab a small spoon and ladle a little sauce over the balls. This is optional, but I like to do it, for flavour. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the balls are done.In a saucepan, this will only need 20 minutes.
- 10
When done, take it off the heat, drizzle the lemon juice all over and finish off with the herbs and freshly ground black pepper.If you wish, serve with some whole pickled chillies and bread.