Keftes Garaz: Sweet-and-Sour Syrian Meatballs

June 09, 2021

Micah Siva

Most Americans associate meatballs with spaghetti and tomato sauce. Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews think of albondigas or keftes—patties that are often eaten at Hanukkah, because they are sometimes fried in oil.

This Syrian sweet-and-sour keftes recipe—flavored with dried sour or sweet cherries and tamarind sauce and baked rather than fried—has been handed down in the family of Melanie Franco Nussdorf, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who loves to cook the dishes of her ancestors who came to New York from Aleppo five generations ago.

Featured in: How To Put a Syrian Spin on Your Hanukkah Feast

Great for: Hanukkah

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Ingredients

For the meatballs

½cup pine nuts
2sweet onions, diced
2tablespoons olive oil
2pounds ground beef
2cloves garlic, minced
1⁄2 cup matzo meal or bread crumbs
1⁄4 teaspoon ground Aleppo or Marash pepper
1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
1teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2large eggs
1teaspoon tamarind concentrate
2teaspoons tomato paste or ketchup

For the sauce

4tablespoons olive oil
1diced onion
1tablespoon tamarind concentrate
1 1⁄2 cups pitted sour cherries (If you cannot find sour cherries, frozen Bing or dark sweet cherries will work just fine)
1 1⁄2 cups dried cherries
Juice of 1 lemon
1teaspoon ground allspice
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1cup beef stock
1cup red wine
2tablespoons chopped parsley or cilantro

Yield: 6-8 servings

Preparation

To make the Keftes Garaz: Sweet-and-Sour Syrian Meatballs

Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step 2
Mix ground beef with one diced onion in a large bowl.
Step 3
Toast the pine nuts, stirring often, in a small dry skillet over medium heat, until lightly brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Remove to a medium bowl.
Step 4
Sauté half the onions in oil on a nonstick frying pan until lightly caramelized, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Step 5
Add the onions to the bowl with the pine nuts, then add the ground beef, garlic, matzo meal or bread crumbs, Aleppo or Marash pepper, cumin, allspice, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Break the eggs into the bowl and stir in the tamarind and tomato paste or ketchup, mixing gently with your hands until just combined.
Step 6
Mold into small balls, about 1 1⁄4 inches in diameter. Put on 2 rimmed baking sheets and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes or until done, but still juicy. You should get about 40 meatballs.
Step 7
While the meatballs are baking, make the sauce. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until transparent, then add the tamarind, pitted, sour or frozen cherries, dried cherries, lemon juice, allspice, salt, pepper, beef stock, and wine. Simmer together, uncovered, for about 20 to 25 minutes until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Step 8
Mix the meatballs with the sauce and serve over rice, sprinkled with chopped parsley or cilantro.