One day, with someone’s help, ordinary meatballs turned into... “hedgehogs”. Thus, delivering true pleasure not only to gourmets, but also to those who care about the aesthetic presentation of dishes.

To make ordinary meatballs look like hedgehogs, those products are added to the minced meat that do not mix with the minced meat during heat treatment and hold their shape well. Delicious “hedgehogs” are made from minced meat and cabbage, minced meat and carrots, but most often they are prepared from minced meat and rice.

Minced hedgehogs with rice: subtleties of preparation

• To prepare hedgehogs, you can use any meat - beef, pork, chicken - or mixed minced meat.
• It is advisable to take long-grain rice so that it stands out effectively against the background of the minced meat. For the same reason, it should not be boiled, as is done for ordinary meatballs or meatballs. It is enough to rinse the rice well in several waters and then soak for 1-2 hours. During this time, it will swell well, so during the cooking process it will not actively absorb the gravy.
• Some housewives add an egg to the minced meat. It, of course, is a connecting link, but the main effect on the appearance of the products is exerted by properly mixed minced meat, as well as the proportions of meat and rice.
• To prevent the “hedgehogs” from falling apart during cooking and turning into porridge, the minced meat must be beaten especially carefully. It should be so dense that it looks like a single whole.
• You should not put a lot of rice in the minced meat. Firstly, a large amount of rice will make the minced meat loose and eventually the “hedgehogs” will fall apart. Secondly, rice will drown out the taste of meat.
• After combining the minced meat with rice, the meatballs are rolled into balls.
• “Hedgehogs” can be cooked in a frying pan, in the oven, in a double boiler, in a slow cooker, or in the microwave. It all depends on the taste preferences of the housewife and her household. In a frying pan, the dish turns out to be more nutritious than in the oven, and in a double boiler it turns out to be practically dietary, because the meatballs are steamed without adding oil.
• You can prepare the gravy for “hedgehogs” to your liking, using the products and vegetables that are available. It can be sour cream, tomato, with the addition of various spices and herbs. The thickness of the gravy is given by flour, which is added during the process of frying vegetables or diluted with water and then poured over already sautéed vegetables.

Minced hedgehogs with rice: in a frying pan

Ingredients:

• mixed minced meat (beef and pork) – 0.5 kg;
• onions – 2 pcs.;
• dry rice – 0.5 tbsp;
• salt - to taste;
• ground black pepper - a pinch;
• tomato paste – 1 tbsp. l.;
• small carrots – 1 pc.;
• flour – 1 tsp;
• eggs – 1 pc.;
• sugar – 0.3 tsp;
• water;
• vegetable oil – 1-2 tbsp. l.

Cooking method

• Rinse the rice and soak for 1-2 hours. Place on a sieve and dry.
• Peel both onions and rinse with cold water. Cut into small cubes. Divide into two parts. One part of the onion will go into the minced meat, and you will use the other a little later to prepare the gravy.
• Peel the carrots, wash them, grate them on a medium grater or cut them into very thin strips.
• Add finely chopped onion, egg, salt and pepper to the minced meat. Knead thoroughly with your hands until it becomes a smooth, homogeneous mass. Add rice and knead again.
• Separate pieces the size of a small apple from the minced meat and roll them into tight balls. To prevent the minced meat from sticking to your hands, periodically wet them with cold water.
• Heat oil in a frying pan. Sauté onions and carrots until soft. Add tomato paste, stir.
• Dilute the flour with a little water. While stirring continuously, pour the flour mixture into the pan with the vegetables. Add salt, sugar and pepper. Add enough water to get the sauce to your desired thickness.
• Place the hedgehogs in a saucepan (preferably in one layer). Fill with gravy. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Close the saucepan with a lid and simmer the dish for about 30 minutes. Add hot water as needed.
• Place the finished “hedgehogs” on a plate and pour over the gravy. It turned out to be a completely independent dish, but if you want it to be more satisfying, you can serve them with any side dish.

Meat hedgehogs with rice: in the oven

Ingredients:

• any minced meat – 0.5 kg;
• onion – 1 pc.;
• long grain rice – 0.5 tbsp.;
• salt - to taste;
• ground coriander – 0.5 tsp;
• tomato paste – 1 tbsp. l.;
• sour cream – 1 tbsp. l.;
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.;
• sugar – 0.3 tsp;
• garlic – 2 cloves.

Cooking method

• First, rinse the rice and soak it in cold water for one hour. Then place on a sieve to let the grains dry.
• Grind the onion and garlic in a blender, add to the minced meat, add salt, pepper and coriander. Knead the minced meat very well, since the fate of future “hedgehogs” will depend on this: will they fall apart during the cooking process or not.
• Combine the minced meat with rice and knead again. Roll into round meatballs.
• Pour oil into a heat-resistant bowl and place the “hedgehogs” in one row.
• Prepare the filling. To do this, put tomato paste and sour cream in a bowl and mix well. Dilute with a small amount of warm water to achieve the desired consistency. Salt to taste, add a little sugar. Stir.
• Cover the hedgehogs with filling. Do not fill them completely, otherwise they will simply cook. In order for them to form a light crust, they should extend halfway above the sauce.
• Cover the dish with a lid or foil and place in the oven preheated to 200° for 40 minutes. 15 minutes before cooking, remove the foil so that the “hedgehogs” brown.
• Serve the “hedgehogs” with any side dish or vegetable salad.

Meat hedgehogs with rice: in a slow cooker

Ingredients:

• minced meat – 0.5 kg;
• rice – 0.5 tbsp;
• medium onion – 2 pcs.;
• garlic – 2 cloves;
• tomatoes – 4 pcs.;
• sugar – 0.3 tsp;
• small carrots – 1 pc.;
• dried basil – 0.3 tsp;
• black pepper - to taste;
• salt;
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.

Cooking method

• Rinse the rice in several waters and soak for 1 hour.
• Peel and wash onions, garlic and carrots. Grind one onion along with garlic in a blender, and grate the carrots on a fine grater. Finely chop the second onion.
• Cut the tomatoes into several parts, cut out the stalks. Grind in a blender until pureed.
• Mix vegetables with minced meat. Add salt and pepper. Knead the minced meat until smooth. Add half the amount of rice, mix well again. Roll the minced meat into balls the size of a medium apple.
• Dredge the meatballs in the remaining rice, being careful to use all of it.
• Pour oil into the multicooker bowl and heat it in the “Frying” or “Baking” mode. Add the remaining onion. Sauté until soft. Add tomato puree, stir. Pour in enough water to get the sauce to the desired consistency. Boil for 1-2 minutes. Add salt, pepper, sugar, basil. Turn off the multicooker.
• Grease a steaming container with oil and place the “hedgehogs” in it, being careful not to damage the rice coating. Place the container into the multicooker. Close the lid. Set the “Steam” mode. Cook for 40 minutes.
• Place the hedgehogs on a plate and pour over the prepared sauce.

Note to the hostess

Some housewives roll raw hedgehogs in flour breading and then fry them in a frying pan. Of course, it turns out delicious, but the crust that forms on the surface does not allow the grains of rice to straighten out, thereby making this dish look like ordinary meatballs.

To diversify the taste of hedgehogs, you can add not only onions, but also other vegetables to the minced meat.

Any gravy for hedgehogs is suitable: tomato, sour cream, vegetable.

This is the most delicious recipe for cooking hedgehogs with gravy in a frying pan; it’s not for nothing that a bunch of sites all over the Internet stole it from me and posted it on their pages, even though these hedgehogs were cooked somewhat differently. But, believe me, it will taste better this way. If you are against theft, please support me, and if you see the same recipe somewhere else, write to them in the comments that they did something bad. So here it is. The secret to the tenderness of my hedgehogs is that the rice is boiled, and the meatballs themselves are simmered in vegetable gravy under a lid. Nothing complicated. These hedgehogs are prepared with rice in a frying pan, without tedious baking in the oven.

Ingredients for hedgehogs:

(for 1 medium sized frying pan)
400 g minced meat,
half a glass of rice,
1 egg,
2 medium onions,
1 large carrot,
2 large tomatoes (or a tablespoon of tomato paste + flour),
50 ml milk,
butter,
salt,
pepper,
green.

Recipe for minced hedgehogs:

Boil the rice in advance until half cooked so that it has time to cool. Three carrots on a fine grater. Remove the skins from the tomatoes.

We prepare minced meat: we pass the meat (any kind of meat to your taste, be it beef, pork, or chicken) through a meat grinder, even (especially) if you use store-bought minced meat. Mix with chopped onion and cooled rice.

Break a chicken egg into the fache, add a little milk and mix well.

We make balls from the resulting minced meat, roll them in flour and place them in a heated frying pan with butter.

Fry until golden brown on both sides

Add grated carrots to the hedgehogs and fry.

Add tomatoes and a little water. Salt. Simmer for 20 minutes under the lid.

5-7 minutes before readiness, add onion, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper or seasonings. It will be delicious if you add finely chopped greens.

Winter version of the gravy: in a frying pan with hedgehogs - 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste, fry, add water, add a tablespoon of flour fried in a dry frying pan, simmer for 20 minutes. Add onions. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Ready.

You can also bake hedgehogs in the oven; this is usually done in sour cream or cream sauce (gravy): prepare minced hedgehogs, fry in a frying pan on both sides, place in a baking dish, pour in sour cream/cream, salt to taste. You can sprinkle grated cheese on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve hedgehogs as a side dish or as an independent dish.

Don't these hedgehogs remind you of anything? This is a wonderful filling for stuffed vegetables - cabbage (you'll get cabbage rolls), sweet peppers, zucchini, but the minced hedgehogs themselves are very appetizing. And if you sprinkle these minced hedgehogs with rice on top with cheese, you will get an excellent and beautiful appetizer for the holiday table!

Minced hedgehogs with rice needles (in a frying pan)

In order for hedgehogs to release their needles, you just need to add raw, not boiled, rice to the minced meat. And for the gravy, then take at least a glass of water, because the rice will need moisture to cook. And keep in mind that the hedgehogs will then be a little denser, which is why it is better to take softer minced meat, with a higher content of pork or chicken.

The recipe for cooking hedgehogs with rice in this case becomes even simpler. First, prepare the gravy: lightly fry the vegetables, add water, salt, and bring to a boil. Mix all the ingredients for the minced meat (raw rice), make hedgehogs, and put them in the gravy. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Meat is a very healthy product for humans, containing a large amount of protein. The meat product can be fried or boiled, baked or steamed. The cooking option you choose depends solely on your capabilities and family taste preferences. When ordinary meat has become quite boring, meat hedgehogs with rice will come to your aid. The recipe for this dish is quite simple. You can cook it and freeze it later. Freshly prepared meat balls can also be heat treated.

Selection and preparation of minced meat

Whether you need to select and prepare your tenderloin before preparing your ground meats depends on the meat you choose. When purchasing a product, pay attention to its freshness. Recently, meat markets have added a function for preparing minced meat, so if you don’t want to bother with a meat grinder, ask the seller to do it. If you want to do everything yourself, then the following instructions are for you.

Minced pork and beef

Perhaps the most popular option is to use beef and pork. Rinse the meat and cut it into small pieces. Pass them through a meat grinder along with a clove of garlic.

Chicken mince

This type of meat is dietary and is ideal for people on any diet. Poultry meat has a very delicate consistency, so in this case you can do without a meat grinder. Just cut the fillet into small pieces.

Additional Ingredients

To cook with rice, you need to read the recipe and prepare all the necessary ingredients.

Onions and carrots

Take a small onion and cut it into small pieces. After this, wash two carrots and grate them on a fine grater. Pour a tablespoon of vegetable oil into a preheated frying pan and fry the onion until golden brown.

After this, place the vegetable in a bowl with minced meat and fry the carrots in the same way. Remember that you need to constantly stir the vegetables, otherwise they may burn and instead of an appetizing and aromatic frying you will get bitter coals. After cooking the carrots, place them in the bowl with the minced meat.

It is necessary to choose this cereal correctly before preparing meat hedgehogs with rice. The recipe involves using classic white rice. During cooking, it swells slightly and acquires a sticky consistency, which will have a beneficial effect on the formation of balls.

You can also choose steamed long grain cereal. In this case, the rice will turn out crumbly and retain its original shape. It will be a little more difficult to sculpt from such a product.

Fill a small saucepan with water and add half a glass of rice. Bring the liquid to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. After this, drain the water and place the cereal in the bowl with the minced meat.

Egg

Take one chicken egg and beat it with a teaspoon of salt. The resulting mixture must be poured into a common bowl with food.

Forming balls

Mix the minced meat thoroughly with all the ingredients, it is better to do this with your hands. Take a small piece of meat and form a ball. Place it on a clean flat plate and repeat the manipulation. When all the minced meat is used, you can put the product in the freezer or cook it right away.

Meat in a pan)

A dish prepared in this way is considered dietary and contains a minimum of calories. You will need a narrow saucepan with a thick bottom and half a glass of water.

Place the required number of meat balls on the bottom of the pan and cover with water. If necessary, you can make several layers of hedgehogs. Place the dish on low heat and cover with a lid. Wait until the water has completely evaporated from the bottom of the pan. After this, you need to carefully remove the meat balls and serve.

Meat hedgehogs with rice (recipe in a slow cooker)

In order to prepare this dish in a slow cooker, you need to make tomato sauce. To do this, take tomato paste and dilute it with water. Observe the following proportions: two parts tomato to one part water.

Place the meat balls in a slow cooker bowl and pour the prepared tomato sauce over them. This article has a recipe for meat hedgehogs with rice with photos.

In a multicooker, you need to select the appropriate cooking mode and place a bowl with meat balls in it. After this, wait for the special signal that the device will emit when the product is ready for use.

Meat balls with rice in the oven

This recipe involves preparing a complex dish. You will need several peeled potato tubers and 100 grams of hard cheese.

Prepare a baking dish for the oven and line it with foil. This is necessary so that the meat retains its juice and the dish does not burn. Cut the potatoes into circles and place them in an even layer on the bottom of the pan. Place the required number of meat balls on top.

The oven must be preheated to 180 degrees. Place the workpiece and wait 20 minutes. after that, take out the baking dish and sprinkle the meat with grated cheese. Place the dish in the oven for another 10 minutes. After this, place the potatoes with meat balls on plates and serve.

Conclusion

An excellent holiday dish is meat hedgehogs with rice. You can study the recipe with photos in this article.

This dish would also be a great option for an everyday dinner or lunch. A side dish for cooked balls can be in the form of pasta or potatoes, various cereals or cooked vegetables. You should not garnish meat hedgehogs as this product is already contained in minced meat.

Try each method of preparing this dish and choose one or more. Prepare meat balls for children and adults. Every person will like them, regardless of gender or age. Good luck in your culinary creativity!

Hedgehogs are small round meatballs made from minced meat and rice, baked in the oven or stewed in sauce. This dish probably got its name because when cooked, thanks to the protruding grains of rice, it vaguely resembles the famous animal, curled up in a ball and slightly bristling with its needles. Children love delicious homemade hedgehogs made from meat and rice. Hedgehogs can be served as a separate dish, or with a side dish of vegetables.

Photo by Shutterstock

Cooking hedgehogs with boiled rice

You will need: - boneless beef - 300 g; - boneless pork - 300 g; - long grain rice - 1 cup; - onions - 2 medium heads; - fresh carrots - 1 pc.; - salt, pepper, garlic - according to taste; - vegetable oil for frying; - tomato paste or ketchup and mayonnaise for pouring; - meat broth.

If you are preparing hedgehogs for children, you don’t have to add pepper, garlic and other spices to the minced meat and filling, use mild ketchup, and replace mayonnaise with sour cream

Prepare the minced meat. To do this, cut off the films and tendons from the flesh of beef and pork, peel one onion and cut into 4 pieces. Pass the meat and onions through a meat grinder, salt and pepper the minced meat to taste.

Grate the carrots on a coarse grater, peel the second onion and finely chop it. Mix carrots with onions and fry in vegetable oil in a frying pan.

Pour the rice into a sieve and rinse under running water. Rinse until the water flowing from the cereal becomes clear. Place the rice in boiling salted water and cook until half cooked, then transfer to a colander with fine holes and rinse with cold water.

Place minced meat, boiled rice, fried carrots and onions in a deep bowl. Add salt to taste and mix everything well. Then, with your hands moistened in cold water, take a little of the resulting mixture and form balls 5–6 cm in diameter (20–30 g each). Place the balls in a deep frying pan so that they do not touch each other.

In a separate cup, mix 2 tbsp. ketchup (or tomato paste) and mayonnaise, dilute with water and fill the balls so that the filling covers them halfway. Cover the top of the pan with foil and place in the oven preheated to 180–200°C. After 15–20 minutes, remove the foil and cook the hedgehogs in the oven for another 10 minutes. Now the delicious ruddy hedgehogs are ready.

Hedgehogs with uncooked rice

This homemade recipe differs from the first one in that the rice does not need to be boiled until half cooked. Immediately mix the cereal, washed under running water, with minced meat and fried carrots and onions. Add salt to taste and form into balls, then roll them in flour and fry until crusty in a hot frying pan with vegetable oil.

Then place the fried balls in a pan and fill them with meat broth or water, add 2 tbsp. ketchup or tomato paste, 2 bay leaves, 3-5 black peppercorns, 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed with salt. The filling should cover the balls completely. Place over high heat; once boiling, reduce heat to low. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for half an hour.

Serve hedgehogs with or without broth, adding ketchup, mayonnaise or any other sauce.

If you haven't decided what to cook for dinner yet, then this hedgehog recipe will be a real find! Hedgehogs are a tender meat dish in a thick, aromatic sauce. They look like large meatballs. The difference is that half-cooked or raw rice is added to the minced meat. Before stewing, unlike regular cutlets, they do not need to be fried. Therefore, hedgehogs are a more dietary dish and require less time. Any housewife will undoubtedly appreciate this.

The dish can be combined with almost any side dish. Mashed potatoes, various cereals or spaghetti are perfect. Both adults and children love these meat balls. For children, you can use sour cream as a gravy. So any “unwanted” person will eat them with great appetite. For adults, there is a huge selection of different herbs and spices that will help diversify the taste of the dish. For stewing, you can use a mixture of fresh sour cream with thick tomato paste. Below, we will describe in detail the recipe for hedgehogs prepared with just such a sauce.

For hedgehogs:

• beef pulp - 600 g;
• pork pulp - 300 g;
• egg – 1 pc;
• onion - 200 g;
• rice - 100 g;
• garlic - 5-6 cloves;
• vegetable oil – 1 tbsp. l.;
• salt, pepper, seasonings, aromatic herbs - to taste.

For the sauce:

• meat broth - 250 ml;
• sour cream – 200 g;
• tomato paste – 50-70 g.

For the broth:

• meat bones;
• carrots – 1 piece;.
• onion – 1 piece;
• bay leaf – 1 piece;
• peppercorns – 3-4 pcs.

The traditional combination of meat for the recipe for hedgehogs with gravy is beef and pork. Moreover, there should be approximately twice as much beef as pork. The most tender parts of beef are the rump, thin or thick sirloin. The minced meat from them turns out to be especially tender and juicy. The neck portion of beef is less suitable for minced meat. She is too sinewy and tough. The brisket doesn't fit at all. There are a lot of veins that are difficult to grind, bones, cartilage. Use fatty pork for minced meat. The neck part is ideal for this dish. Ham or shoulder are also good, but when preparing minced meat you need to add a little lard. Otherwise the minced meat will turn out dry. Please note that chilled meat contains a lot of liquid, which can make the minced meat watery. It will be difficult to form hedgehogs from it; they may lose their shape. Therefore, it is recommended to use frozen, freshly cut meat on the bone. The bones will also be useful to us - they will go into the broth for stewing hedgehogs.

It is better to choose golden, basmati or similar varieties of rice for hedgehogs. This rice holds its shape perfectly and will not turn into porridge when stewed. Krasnodar rice may become too mushy when cooked. This will ruin the look and taste of the dish. Give preference to dense, non-starchy varieties of rice.

Sour cream is suitable for any fat content. Of course, give preference to thick, but also not very greasy. Tomato paste should be thick and bright. The color of the sauce will then be very beautiful. Prepare the broth for the sauce rich and strong, adding spices, carrots and onions. Then the taste of the dish will be as aromatic and rich as possible.

Thaw beef and pork. Separate the bones from the pulp, leaving some meat on them. Also, remove the veins and excess fat. Place the bones in a saucepan, cover with water, and place on the stove to prepare the broth. While the minced meat is cooking, the broth will be ready. Rinse pork and beef, freed from sinews and bones. Then cut into small pieces.

Pass the meat through a meat grinder with a fine grid. The finer the structure of the minced meat, the softer the hedgehogs will be.

Peel the onions and garlic and rinse with running water.

Chop the onion coarsely and pass through a meat grinder directly into a bowl of minced meat. The garlic also needs to be ground together with the onion.

Preparing the rice

You don't need to take a lot of rice. For half a kilo of meat, take about 70 grams of rice. This is the maximum. Pour the rice into a saucepan and rinse well with cold running water. Change the water until it becomes completely clear. Pour clean water over the rice and cook until half done. Stir the rice while cooking. Do not cover with a lid. When the cereal has softened a little, but the rice is still firm, turn off the gas. Drain the rice in a colander and rinse it with cold running water.

Place the rice in a bowl with the minced meat and break the egg into it.

The egg is necessary for good adhesion of the minced meat to the rice. Hedgehogs prepared this way will be easier to shape. Add salt, freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Shape them using a tablespoon. The amount of minced meat that fits into a well-rounded tablespoon is exactly the right size for a hedgehog. Use wet hands to shape the minced meat into a round shape. It is better to wet your hands with warm water, so the hedgehogs will form easier and stick to your fingers less. Place the meat balls on the board. It is better to put them in a patch for stewing at the same time.

Broth for gravy

Bring the meat bones, covered with water just above the level of the bones, to a boil over high heat. Remove the foam with a slotted spoon or spoon, reduce the heat. Peel one carrot and one onion. Don't cut them, put them whole in the broth. Cook for about an hour at a low simmer, covered. At the end of cooking, add bay leaf, a few peppercorns and salt. So the aromatic and rich broth we need for the recipe for delicious hedgehogs will turn out perfect.

To prepare hedgehogs, take a thick-walled patch. In the pan, they may burn on the bottom, and there is not enough room in the pan for delicious meat sauce.

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a patch. Place the meat balls in a circle, sideways close to each other.

Don't worry, they won't stick together, the sauce won't let them do that. First fill the hedgehogs with meat broth. Strain it before pouring into the patch to remove any small seeds.

Mix fresh thick sour cream with tomato paste. This recipe for hedgehogs is made with just such a sauce. Add the broth mixture to the patch, pouring it evenly in a circle to cover all the meat balls.

Sprinkle your favorite spices or aromatic herbs on top and cover the patch with a lid. Bring the dish to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes without opening the lid. The gravy should bubble a little.

Serve the hedgehogs hot. The side dish can be any of your choice or simply with fresh vegetables and soft bread. Pour generously of the aromatic gravy over the side dish. Sprinkle with chopped herbs if desired. Onions, parsley, dill or cilantro are very good for sour cream and tomato sauce. This dish always turns out juicy and incredibly tasty! Your loved ones will certainly appreciate the delicate taste and aroma of hedgehogs in sour cream and tomato sauce. You will definitely hear: “Thank you very much, it was very tasty. Can we have hedgehogs again tomorrow?”

• If you are preparing a dish for small children, do not make the gravy too thick or rich. Replace the rich broth with boiled water or exclude garlic and spices from the recipe.
• Do not fry hedgehogs before stewing. Then the dish will turn out to be more dietary.
• Instead of pork with fat for baby food, you can use poultry or veal.
• Don't be afraid to experiment with different spices. This dish is in perfect harmony with all herbs, various seasonings for meat, and hot pepper. Instead of tomato paste with sour cream, you can mix tomatoes, finely chopped and peeled. To do this, grind the tomatoes in a blender until smooth. Or you can take a can of peeled tomatoes in their own juice and chop them.
• Sprinkle the gravy with Provencal herbs and do not add sour cream to the sauce. Then you will have an Italian-style dish. Serve it with a fresh vegetable salad, drizzled with olive oil and fresh ciabatta. This will give you an Italian dinner for the whole family. Pasta is perfect as a side dish.
• If you want the grains of rice to stick out from the hedgehogs like thorns, then mix well-washed raw rice into the minced meat. In this case, you will have to increase the stewing time so that the rice even inside the meat balls has time to cook.