The spices in this recipe are an approximation of ras el hanout, a spice blend found throughout North Africa. For the meatballs, I mixed 1 pound of ground beef with the half-onion I sauteed earlier and 2 minced garlic cloves. I added 1 teaspoon each salt, cinnamon, coriander and turmeric plus a half-teaspoon each of cardamom, black pepper and anise seed. (When I make this again, I’ll ease up on the turmeric and cut the anise seed to ¼ teaspoon or nix it altogether. I just couldn’t make up my mind whether I liked the slight licorice flavor that the anise imparts to the meatballs.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 05, 2023 13:03 UTC