When I was in Singapore visiting relatives, I got to try out – for the first time ever – Mak Abang’s famous Ramadan dish: Kentang Bol.  Literally called “Potato Balls,” it is a super comforting dish, comprised of deep fried potato balls filled with spiced ground beef served in tangy tomato beef broth.  Seriously good stuff.

During the bus trip back I kept thinking about how delicious the dish was, and how sucky it is to be able to eat it only when we’re in Singapore.  So a few weeks after that, I decided to take a crack at making it myself.

To cut the story short, I have a pretty good idea what to make this coming fasting month.

Based on the recipe from this blog.

Kentang Bol

Ingredients

Tomato beef broth

500 gm beef trimmings (tetel), chopped 1 kg beef ribs 8 shallots 5 cloves garlic 2 inches fresh ginger, sliced 1 tsp ground white pepper 1/2 tsp ground black pepper Cooking oil 2 onions, sliced 8 cloves (cengkih)

8 cardamom seeds (buah pelaga) 4 inches cinnamon stick 1/2 cup light soy sauce 1/2 cup sweet soy sauce 1 (14-oz/ 400 gm) can tomato puree 1 (6-oz/ 170 gm) can tomato paste Sugar and salt to taste 3 tomatoes, diced Potato balls, recipe follows

For garnishing

Shredded lettuce leaves Cucumber slices Chopped parsley/ green onions

Green peas Crispy fried shallots Sambal cili padi

Directions

In a large pressure cooker, add the beef trimmings and beef ribs and fill with enough water to cover the meat.  Boil for at least 2 hours, until the meat is tender.  Remove from heat and reserve the cooking broth.  Remove the rib meat from its bones, and discard the bones.

In a blender, grind the shallots, garlic, ginger, ground white pepper and ground black pepper into a fine paste.

In a large pot heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft. Add the blended ingredients, cloves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon stick, and cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add the boiled beef ribs, beef trimmings and the reserved beef cooking broth.  Add more water if necessary.  Add the light soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, tomato purée, tomato paste, and salt and sugar to taste.  Lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour, until the meat has absorbed the flavor of the broth.  Remove from heat and add the diced tomatoes.

To serve, add 1-2 potato balls in a deep dish and douse with generous amounts of the tomato beef broth.  Garnish with the greens, fried shallots and a bit of sambal cili padi.  Serve hot.

Potato balls

Ingredients

2 kg potatoes, peeled, boiled and mashed 100 gm plain crackers (e.g. Jacob’s Cream Crackers), finely ground 1/2 cup sliced shallots, fried until crisp, and crushed 1 tbsp butter

1 tsp ground white pepper 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder 3 eggs Salt Cooking oil for frying

For the filling:

Ingredients

8 shallots, finely chopped 5 cloves garlic 2 inches fresh ginger, sliced 4 cloves (cengkih) 4 cardamom seeds (pelaga) 1 tsp ground white pepper 1 tsp ground black pepper

Cooking oil 2 onions, diced 2 inches cinnamon stick 2 tbsp korma spice 1 chicken bouillon cube, crumbled 600 gm ground beef Salt

Directions

In a blender, grind the shallots, garlic, ginger, cloves, cardamom seeds, white pepper and black pepper into a fine paste.

Make the filling.  In a large pan heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook, stirring, until soft.  Add the blended ingredients, the cinnamon stick, korma spice, and the chicken buillion, and cook, stirring, until fragrant.  Add the ground beef and a little bit of salt, and cook, stirring, until all the liquid has evaporated.  Remove from the heat, discard the cinnamon stick, and set aside until ready to assemble the potato balls.

In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes, ground crackers, crushed fried shallots, butter, ground white pepper and nutmeg powder, and mix thoroughly.

Assemble the potato balls.  On the palm of your hand, flatten a portion of the potato mixture into the shape of a disc, and add a portion of the meat filling in the center of the disc.  Remove any large chunks of cloves or cardamom seeds from the filling, if you see any.  Wrap the disc to completely cover the filling and shape into a ball, adding more potato mixture if necessary. The size of the potato balls is really up to you; I usually make mine fist-sized, or half of that for potlucks.  Repeat for the remaining potato mixture and meat filling.

Using a deep fryer, heat 4-6 inches of oil to 180 degrees C.  In a medium sized bowl, beat the eggs with a little bit of salt.  Dip the potato balls into the egg mixture, ensuring that it is evenly coated.  Carefully drop 4-5 egg-coated potato balls into the oil and cook until golden brown.  Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.