• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Greedy Gourmet | Food & Travel Blog
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Restaurants
    • Where To Eat in England
      • London
      • Berkshire
      • Essex
      • Surrey
    • Ireland
    • Italy
    • Montenegro
      • Ireland
    • Netherlands
    • Serbia
    • Spain
  • Places to Visit
    • Places to Stay in England
    • France
    • Italy
    • Netherlands
    • Norway
    • Portugal
    • Spain
  • Work With Me
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Snapchat
    • Twitter
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Tips & Tricks
  • Places to Visit
  • Restaurants
  • About
  • Work With Me
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    You are here: Home / Recipes by Dish / Casserole / Beef Meatballs with Curried Banana Sauce

    Beef Meatballs with Curried Banana Sauce

    20 May 2010 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Facebook12TweetPin9YummlyShares21
    Jump to Recipe

    Would you know a South African inspired dish if you saw one?

    Although this isn’t a traditional South African dish its origins is a dead giveaway by using ingredients like apricot jam, vinegar, curry powder and combining meat and fruit. When I cooked this meal, the smell instantly reminded me of home, and the food tasted like the standard “curry” on offer in Transvaal province. Oops! Transvaal doesn’t exist anymore, so let’s say Gauteng. How times have changed. I feel old.

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

    Beef Meatballs with Curried Banana Sauce


    ★★★★★

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Michelle Minnaar
    • Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
    • Yield: 6 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Ingredients

    Scale

    meatballs

    • 2 onions, chopped
    • 2 apples, cored and grated
    • 8 prunes, pitted and chopped
    • 1kg (2¼ lbs) beef mince
    • 7.5ml (½ tbsp) salt crystals
    • 2.5ml (½ tsp) ground black pepper

    sauce

    • 30ml (2 tbsp) cooking oil
    • 3 onions, chopped
    • 30ml (2 tbsp) mild curry powder
    • 15ml (1 tbsp) flour
    • 250ml (1 cup) brown vinegar
    • 500ml (2 cups) water
    • 100ml (3½ fl oz) smooth apricot jam
    • 60ml (4 tbsp) brown sugar
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 6 bananas, peeled and sliced

    Instructions

    1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
    2. Coat an ovenproof casserole dish with cooking spray, oil or butter and set aside.
    3. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and shape into balls. Transfer the meatballs to the prepared dish and set aside until ready to use.
    4. Heat the cooking oil in a heavy-based saucepan and sauté the onions.
    5. Add the curry powder and flour and cook for 1 minute.
    6. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
    7. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the sauce over the meatballs.
    8. Bake for 1½ hours or until cooked.

    Notes

    • Serve with rice or vermicelli, chutney, tomato and onions sambal, and some green beans.
    • I found the sauce a bit astringent with the massive use of vinegar. My suggestion is to start off with 125ml (½ cup) of vinegar first and see what you think, then add more if you like.
    • You can prepare this dish 1 day ahead and refrigerate until ready to taste.
    • Malt vinegar was used.
    • In this recipe, you can use any of these bay leaf substitutes instead if you’re struggling to get a hold of any.
    • Prep Time: 120 minutes
    • Cook Time: 30 minutes

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 100g
    • Calories: 94
    • Sugar: 2.7 g
    • Fat: 5.1 g
    • Saturated Fat: 1.9 g
    • Carbohydrates: 3.3 g
    • Protein: 9.2 g

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @greedygourmet on Instagram and hashtag it #greedygourmet

    More recipes you may enjoy

    • Normandy Chicken
    • Moussaka
    • Vegan Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo
    • Vegan Moussaka
    Facebook12TweetPin9YummlyShares21

    DON’T MISS A THING!

    New recipes, tips & tricks, reviews and giveaways every week!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Krista

      May 20, 2010 at 10:54 pm

      Oh my, I love African cuisine so much and this is GORGEOUS!!! Your photos are lovely, capturing the richness of the sauce, the heartiness of the meatballs and the delicate tangle of noodles. Beautiful. 🙂

      Reply
    2. Gawie Minnaar

      May 21, 2010 at 8:23 am

      Dit lyk moer lekker – my mond water sommer!

      Reply
    3. Daren Margetts

      May 21, 2010 at 9:59 am

      You’ve put in task 3 – “Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and shape into balls.” All of them? Surely not! – In which case which ingredients?

      Reply
    4. Michelle

      May 21, 2010 at 11:12 am

      Daren: Thank you very much for pointing out my mistake. It has now been fixed on the page and the PDF file (for download).

      Reply
    5. Jeanne @ CookSister

      May 21, 2010 at 11:15 am

      Bananas don’t do it for me, but yes – the fruit/meat/apricot jam thing is a dead giveaway for SA roots. All that’s missing is a packet of brown onion soup 😉

      Reply
    6. Marisa

      May 21, 2010 at 11:55 am

      This looks phenomenal!! Great use of traditional SA flavours – my mond water saam met Gawie! 🙂

      Reply
    7. Marisa

      August 01, 2011 at 8:24 pm

      Moet net se – het die nou al twee keer gemaak en dis ‘n wenner!!

      Reply
    8. Alex

      October 25, 2012 at 3:43 pm

      Step 5 says “Add the curry powder and flour and cook for 1 minute” however there is no mention of any flour in the ingredients list. What kind of flour and how much are we supposed to add? Thanks.

      Reply
    9. Michelle

      October 26, 2012 at 9:57 pm

      Thanks, for pointing out the missing flour in the ingredients list. I’ve not updated the recipe. To err on the safe side I would use 15ml (1 tbsp) of flour to thicken the sauce. If you prefer sauce of thicker consistency, use a bit more flour. Happy cooking!

      Reply
    10. Alex

      November 03, 2012 at 8:13 pm

      Thanks. Just cooked this for dinner. I followed your advice and only used half the vinegar and it was fantastic. V yummy recipe which I’ll be using again 🙂

      Reply
    11. Michelle

      November 05, 2012 at 2:51 pm

      That’s marvellous news, Alex! Thanks so much for letting me know. 🙂

      Reply
    12. Jason

      May 23, 2017 at 4:21 am

      I’m making this again for a group event and it’s still as phenomenal as I remember. I did cut down the vinegar to 1/2 cup per recommendation. Other modifications- I caramelized the onions and cut out the brown sugar since the sauce was sweet enough for my own taste. I think it’d be great with cayenne/some spicy pepper- but I’m keeping it non-spicy for others.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • michelle

        June 16, 2017 at 11:15 am

        So happy to hear you love the recipe! Please keep in touch and happy cooking. 🙂

        Reply
    13. Susan

      January 11, 2020 at 8:30 am

      Stumbled across this recipe when I was looking for something to cook other than banana bread with my leftover banana’s. A delicious meal which is sweet and savoury and also has a kick of curry.

      ★★★★★

      Reply

    Make my day! - Share your thoughts... Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    Food Photographer & Blogger

    about michelle

    Welcome to my eclectic collection of recipes from all four corners of the world. I hope to inspire you to get into the kitchen and never eat a boring meal ever again. Want to know more?

    More about me →

    Join the
    Greedy Gourmet club!

    Latest Recipes

    • 8 Cinnamon Substitutes
    • Biscoff Blondies
    • Peppermint Crisp Tart
    • 11 Coconut Sugar Substitutes

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Copyright, Privacy & Disclosure Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Accessibility Policy
    • Cookie Policy

    Services

    • Food Photography
    • Recipe Development
    • Food Videography

    Contact

    • Contact
    • Work With Me
    • Media Kit

    As an Amazon Associate and affiliate marketer I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2022 Greedy Gourmet