Ground Lamb Meatballs with a Saffron Sauce

I was lucky enough to be able to witness the way cooks pounded small chunks of lamb on a cutting board in a restaurant kitchen in Old Delhi that served authentic Kashmiri foods. This pounding was the beginning of silky-smooth meatballs that later simmered in a thin broth steeped with vermilion-red cocks-comb flowers (called pran in Kashmir). It’s an ingredient rarely found outside Kashmir, so to re-create the color and flavor, I have combined ground Kashmiri chiles, a hint of saffron