Kofta Curry
"This is my recipe derived from an Indian recipe that only suggested ingredients. I have experimented with this recipe since about 1958. This is its present incarnation."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 15mins
- Ingredients:
- 30
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
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FOR THE MEATBALLS
- 1 1 lb lean ground mutton or 1 lb ground goat meat, could be substituted
- 1 garlic clove, pressed or finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup very finely chopped onion
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cassia cinnamon (or up to 1/2 tsp ground ceylon cinnamon)
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom (try substituting black cardamom or a blend of green and black for a different flavor)
- 1 pinch salt
- telicherry black pepper (4-6 grinds)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- flour, for your hands
- vegetable oil, to the depth of 1/8 to 1/4 inch in a small skilet
-
FOR THE GRAVY (CURRY)
- 1 large onion, chopped
- fresh green chile, for a hot curry, one (or more)
- ground cayenne pepper, for a milder curry, 1 pinch to 1/8 tsp
- fresh coconut milk (if you know how to get it, it is not just the liquid in the center of an unspoiled coconut!) or 16 ounces canned thai coconut milk (Never use sweetened coconut milk)
- 1 tablespoon finely minced or grated fresh ginger (substitute if you must) or 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (substitute if you must)
- 1 - 1 1⁄2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1⁄2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (substitute yellow mustard seed if necessary)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon freshly ground tellicherry black pepper
- salt
- 2 to 4 key limes, juice of (key limes, mexican, or persian)
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Condiments and Accompaniments
- 1 cup white basmati rice, to be served with the kooftah curry
- pappadams
- chutney, selection of (Major Grey's and other mango chutneys)
- indian pickle (s)
- sultana (golden raisins)
- shredded sweetened coconut
- pine nuts
directions
-
PREPARATION:
- Using a morter and pestle (such as Thai green granite) or a small blender, grind the green chilis (if used) or cayenne, ginger, fenugreek, coriander, turmeric, cumin, mustard seed, pepper, salt and lime juice into a curry paste.
- Soak the Basmati rice for about 30 minutes befre cooking.
- Begin to cook the rice at about the time you start to cook the meatballs.
-
METHOD:
- Mix the meat, cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, garlic, onion and egg into a stiff paste.
- With floured hands, form the meat paste into round balls about the size of a walnut.
- Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the meatballs over moderate heat to a light brown.
- Remove the meatballs from the fat and drain them on paper towels or a rack.
- Add the chopped onion for the curry gravy in the fat remaining in the skillet and fry it until it is just soft, then add the curry paste and cook for five minutes.
- Then transfer the fried curry paste and onion mixture to a pot and add the coconut milk.
- Stir very well over medium heat while bringing the curry gravy to a simmer.
- Then add the meatballs and simmer them in the gravy (curry) for 30 minutes.
- It is recommended that you serve this dish with fried Poppadoms, Rasmati rice, a select assortment of chutney and pickles, shredded coconut, sultanas (golden raisins), and pine nuts, all arranged in small side dishes.
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Reviews
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I'm so glad I decided to try this. It's just wonderful! And not so very difficult or inconvenient for someone who has already purchased the spices. I used a hamburger mix, which means ground beef and pork, and I think that that may have been why the cinnamon stood out just slightly more than I would prefer. I think it would have been fine with lamb, and maybe even just beef. Anyway, next time, I will reduce the cinnamon a very little. On the other hand, I was being careful with the cardomom, but may increase that slightly. I shaped the meatballs with wet hands and then rolled them in the flour. The curry paste is delicious, with a citrus tang. I did use the greater amount of fenugreek, and was happy with it. Thank you very much for sharing this lovely recipe with us. -
Dear LF,i printed this recp in 2005,then tried it .it was instant hit with all at home.after a long time it resurfaced and i found you agsin on the net.this is like a Rachel Allen recipie.very accurate in description.i used less cinamon.it is truly a fantastic curry.thanks for sharing.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I am a retired disabled former government lawyer as well as a former businessman. Since I have difficulty standing, and only partial use of my left hand, I spend most of my time at the computer. I have been cooking an exploring cultures and cuisines for nearly 60 years.
My mother first taught me to cook and bake. My first specialty was Nut Bread, but I lost the recipe 20 years ago. I used to make it for the neighborhood.
At the age of 10, I received more or less formal training in Italian cooking from our Italian cook. We were hen living in Europe. My father, a scientist as well as an Air Force Officer was completing his doctorate in Aerodynamics at the Swiss Federal Instutute of Technology (E.T.H.) I attended Swiss public school at Ilgenschule B in Zurich near Roemerhof and we were taught by Fraeulein Uhrner. We lived at the top of the Zeilbahn next to the Hotel Waldhaus Dolder. I leaned German and Swiss German, which is truly a different language, (and later passable French and Italian). I have always been curious and I used such language skills as I had, and my travels throughout Western Europe, to learn more about people and their food. I had the privilege of eating at many first class restaurants and hotels, a real castle (in Belgium) and at a French Chateau near Grasse, France, owned by the perfumers who "adopted" my father during WWII. My introduction to fine wine occurred at Grasse and continued in France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. When I returned to the States, I continued cooking, usually experimenting as much as I could. When I reached college, my culinary experimentation extended further from student specialties such as my spaghetti sauce for 50, a concoction called "Gub" which consisted of my my specal spaghetti sauce, pasta, lots of mushrooms, corn, olives, and whatever else was handy to a wide variety of fine French cheeses, wines, and smoked salmons and baked he night before in Paris. These items were flown back in empty cargo planes returning from delivering Tektronix oscilloscopes to Europe and they wqere available in a delicatessen run by a friend. I ahd more and better cheeses than I had ever experienced in Europe. It was a once in a lifetime eexperience and I have never had such variety and quality available since that time, even in the finest shops in New York and Washington, D.C.! I also made friends with Dave and Mrs Tannenbaum (who will always be in my heart). They were an elderly couple in the 1950s who taught me some of the finer point of Jewish cooking and who would make kreplach specially for me o I could have Mrs. Tannenbaum's famous kreplach soup (I wish I hasd the recipe) I also made friends with a famiuly of Japanese-American vegetable farmers who ran a stand next to college (and who ultimately put 5 children through Harvard!Z) They taught me much about Japanese culture and one of their sons, who was near my age, introduced me to some relaatives who rn a cafe type restaurant, where you sat on stools at a counter. They prepared mostly American short order meals,but they did have a small section of Japanese food. I went often and enjoyed the Japanese food exclusively. one time, my friend asked if I would like to try raw fish. I said yes, and I was served a plate of tuna sashimi. To their amazement, I ate it with enthusiasm and asked for more. I must confes I was a bit of a glutton. Therafter I developed an unlimited appetite for sushi. I also love oysters on the half shell (Blue Points and Olympias are best on the West Coast, Long Island and Chesapeake Bay on the East Coast and Louisiana oysters on the Gulf)
fried Oregon Razor Clams, Dungeness and Blue Crabs (the blues are the nbetter), King Crab, ad many other things. One hobby I had during my younger years was to go to Trader Vic's in Portland and then create the recipe for ehat I had eaten by the next day. My success rate for the curries was 100%. I had to watch the number of Zombies I drank, however. Another favorites of mine at the time was the mixed grill in one of the better hotels and steaks in another. I have continued my culinary curiosity and experimentation ever since together with my historical and cultural studies (area studies) of several areas of the world. I tok and passsed the Foreign Service entrnce exmination twice as an undergraduate, but I did not, for some reason, accept an appointment. My interests remain to this day, although my ability to persue them ha nearly ended.
