Fish Balls With Tomato Sauce

Wendys Kitchen's Note:

Here is a recipe from "The Book of Jewish Food," by Claudia Roden.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

For the sauce

• 3 garlic cloves , finely choped
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 large tomatoes , peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar (to taste)
• salt
• 1 hot fresh chili peppers or ¼ teaspoon cayenne

For the fish balls

• 1 lb ground white fish
• 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs or 4 tablespoons matzo meal
• 1 egg , lightly beaten
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 good pinch nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander or 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley
• 1 lemon , cut in wedges, to serve with

Directions:

1. Make the sauce first. In a wide pan, fry the garlic in oil till the aroma rises. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt, and chili pepper or cayenne. Add about 2 cups (500 mL) of water and bring to the boil. If you leave the chili pepper in throughout the cooking, the sauce might end up too hot for you, so taste the sauce and remove the pepper when you feel the sauce is hot enough.
2. For the fish balls, mix all the ingredients together and work to a firm paste with your hands. (If you use the food processor to grind the fish, do so very briefly or it can turn into a creamy puree.)
3. Take lumps of paste the size of a small walnut and roll into little balls.
4. Drop them one by one into the sauce and simmer for 20-25 minutes turning them over once.
5. Serve accompanied by lemon wedges.