Tiny Meatballs, An Azeri Dish

In Azerbaijan and nearby areas, the dish is served with pickled vegetables.

Ingredients:

Serving 6
250 g ground mutton
200 g cranberry beans
1 kg carrots
2 medium onions
50 g or 1/2 cup rice
1 egg
1/2 cup liquid oil
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
1/2 cup Verjuice

Procedure

First, put the beans inside a bowl and soak in cold water 5 to 6 hours straight Then transfer into a pot and allow to cook over the heat.
1 to 1 1/2 hours are enough for cooking the beans. Of course, it also depends on the beans as well. some are done quickly.
After cooking the beans, put them in a strainer to drain the water and then keep aside.
One good idea is to apply less water when cooking beans so that all the water is evaporated during cooking. This way yo don't need to strain.
If you are pressed for time, you can apply canned beans.
Put rice in a bowl and soak 1 hour.
wash one onion and cut into slices. In a deep medium frying pan pour a little oil and saute the slice onion.
Remove the skins of carrots and cut them into slices as well. In a separate dish saute them in oil.
When sauteing, make sure nit to put the lid on till the carrots don't become too soft and preserve their forms.
Put ground meat inside a deep glass bowl and grate the other onion over. Then mix and knead well with your palm.
Sprinkle with salt, black pepper and turmeric and add in the soaked rice as well as 1/4 cup of water. At the end, crack in the egg and knead well.
In the pan with sauteed onion, add tomato paste and turn on the heat again and saute a bit. This will give your dish a charming color.
Pour in almost 1/4 cup water and bring to a boil. Take a small piece off the meat mixture and shape into walnut-sized meatballs then put in the pan. Do repeat with the remaining mixture.
After that, add in sauteed carrots and cooked (canned ) beans and allow to cook. After about 30 minutes drizzle in drops of verjuice, unripe grape juice or sour orange juice, and wait till the casserole is settled. It takes almost 1 hour to prepare the food.