Bus Station Kefta with Egg and Tomato

I had hoped this to be some meaty version of Shakshuka (or have a look at this version), but unfortunately, it's not.

I think three, no, four things presented a problem: there was too little tomato sauce, it was too sweet (why add sugar at all?), it lacked a punch of flavour (which is likely connected to the addition of sugar, but not limited to that), and it wasn't nearly enough.

Regarding the tomatoes, I have developed a distaste for canned tomatoes so I used fresh ones instead. I deseeded them, chopped them and cooked them for a little while before adding them to the meatballs. Although I ended up with exactly the same amount of tomatoes, it was just way too little to make four eggs swim in the sauce, even after I transferred everything to a smaller pan. My guess is that you'll probably need about double the amount of tomato sauce.

Then the sugar: I really don't know why you're supposed to add sugar. Using canned tomatoes might have even made it worse as canned tomatoes contain added sugar anyway. In any case, omit the sugar entirely; you can still add it at the end if you really think it's necessary. Especially in combination with the cinnamon, it just seemed misplaced in a main dish.

Then, the lack of flavour. Of course, had it been Shakshuka, it should have been hot. Also, the sweetness of the sugar meant that any savoury flavours it had were subdued.

Last, portion size: no way this is enough for four - it's even on the meager side for three.

Minor points where I deviated from the recipe: I forgot to add the cinnamon to the meatballs, so I added them to the tomatoes. Also, I didn't do my best to chop the onions finely, and that didn't help the meatballs; what did help them was resting half an hour in the fridge before frying them. If I'd prepare this dish alone, I'd probably double the amount of tomatoes and spices, and add a chilli and lots of salt.

Edited 15 May 2014: I reheated the remains (the other so-called two portions) for us today, added a lot more salt and some cayenne as well as two extra eggs - if I had remembered to get more tomatoes I would have done that, too. The result was already much, much better.