Kofta Meatball Curry

Submitted by Brian Holley

"Koftas are usually served as an appetizer, this recipe is for a main dish. This is a recipe for those who like cooking. First the kaoftas are made and then cooked in a curry sauce."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 27
• Yields: 20 koftas
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 lb minced beef
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 ounces water
• 1 fresh green chile, chopped and seeded
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 canned tomatoes, with liquid chopped
• 1⁄4 pint water
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 2 black cardamom pods, split open
• 4 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 2 bay leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons ground almonds
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander leaves, chopped

directions

1. TO MAKE THE KOFTAS.
2. In a pan place half of the meat with the ginger, garlic, and the water. Cook over medium heat till the water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. To the cooled meat add the rest of the meat, chilli, coriander leaves, mint leaves and the salt.
4. In a blender blitz the meat till fine.
5. Form the mixture into walnut sized balls with your hands.
6. TO MAKE THE CURRY SAUCE.
7. Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat and fry the onions till soft. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
8. Add the coriander, cumin, tumeric, and chilli powder, stir, add the tomatoes one by one, add the juice and stir. Cook till the mixture begins to dry out.
9. Add the water salt, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves, stir.
10. Add the kofta balls, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
11. Gently stir in the yogurt and almonds, cover and cook till the koftas are firm to the touch. Cook 10 minutes. Stir to prevent sticking.
12. Stir in half of the coriander leaves.
13. Serve garnished the rest of the coriander leaves.

Reviews

[sobiah]

Fantastic! I have made this a couple of times now and it turned out great every single time. Brian, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.

 

[Chef rmshill]

This was good although i changed a bit based on my pantry. I used fresh tomatoes and added some tomato sauce. I also used dried herbs and added fresh zucchini

 

[Rinshinomori]

I really, really like this very much! This recipe is another outstanding taste sensation and surprisingly pretty quick to make. The idea of precooking the half meat in water along with onion, garlic, and ginger is interesting and not sure why meat is added here (maybe the texture). Then you add everything except the sauce ingredients in the blender (I used food processor) to get it pasty to form into walnut sized meatballs. For those without a blender or food processor, you can still get close to the texture by using hands and mixing for about 10 minutes vigorously. This is the same technique used in Japan to get the pastiness coming from meat for making Japanese style hamburgers and other meat dumplings such as gyoza. The sauce ingredient is fabulous. I did not have almonds and subbed walnuts. I think the addition of almonds is mostly for the texture and other nuts should work such as walnuts and pecans. Instead of serving this recipe with rice, I'm serving with homemade French bread and green salad. Thank you Brian H for another A+++++! Will be making this one often for sure.

 

[Karen Elizabeth]

This was great, and in fact, took less time than I anticipated, although I did take the extra time to let the sauce cook and the flavours develop. I used a 410 gr can of peeled tomatoes, and I did omit the chili from the meatballs so that my daughters would eat it, but otherwise, just as directed. i found it simple to prepare, flavoursome and fragrant. The meatballs were firm and I can see how you could simply prepare them without the sauce, and serve them as an appetizer, with a dip. Overall, really enjoyed, Brian, thank you!!!!

 

[UmmIbrahim]

Thanks so much for this great recipe! It has a nice texture and a wonderful flavor. It is perfect for presenting to guests. Very, very nice!