Kofta Curry

Submitted by MellowMel

"An African recipe with fantastic spices, occasional crunches of cardamon, the fresh taste of the coriander, totally delicious. I was looking for something different to do with the standard beef or lamb mince recipes, and this was a winner at home. Even my friend's fussy kids had a go and pronounced it excellent! My suggestion- double the recipe and freeze it for another night."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 25
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• For the Meatballs

• 450 g minced beef or 450 g lamb
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped onions
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander
• 1 tablespoon natural yoghurt
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 green chili, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 egg (optional)
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

• For the Curry Sauce

• 2 tablespoons ghee or 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 4 green cardamom pods (or 1 teaspoon coriander seeds)
• 600 ml chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander
• cooked rice, to serve
• coriander, to serve

directions

1. Put the minced beef or lamb into a large bowl, add all the remaining meatball ingredients and mix well with your hands. Roll the mixture into small balls and put aside on a floured plate until required.
2. To make the curry sauce, heat the ghee or butter in a saucepan over a moderate heat and fry the chopped onion and garlic for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and buttery.
3. Reduce the heat, then add the curry powder and cardamom pods (or seeds) and cook for a few minutes, stirring well.
4. Slowly stir in the stock, then add the tomato puree, yoghurt and coriander and stir well. Simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the koftas a few at a time, cook briefly and then add a few more, until all are in the pan. Simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, or until the koftas are cooked. Avoid stirring, but gently shake the pan occasionally to move the koftas around.
6. The curry should thicken slightly, but if it is too dry add more stock or water. Serve hot on rice, garnish with coriander.

Reviews

[adopt a greyhound]

Great curry. I made half a recipe and served it with Puppodoms and Recipe #27224. Great meal for 2.

 

[Love to Eat]

I am new to curries and this was delish!! The complex flavors were wonderful and it was easy to prepare. I had to sub toasted yellow mustard seeds for the black ones as they are hard to find. This is highly recommended and I will definitely make this again.

 

[patti k.]

I just made a recipe almost identical to this and loved it, so I thought I'd give this one a review rather than try to post another one. The main difference in mine was to use beef stock instead of chicken stock for the curry sauce. This is pretty easy, has great flavor and the meatballs are very tender. The sauce thickens up a bit as it cooks and it is delicious. I found the recipe in The Food and Cooking of Spain, Africa and the Middle East.

 

[Chef Oz]

I have to say I was sceptical. Flour in the koftas, curry powder in the sauce and being so easy to make made me suspicious that it would not taste like real koftas. It was great. The only thing I changed was I omitted the green chillies. Next time I will probably fry the yoghurt bit by bit, in the onion and garlic mix, just to integrate it better. I served this with basmati rice and steamed asian greens.

 

[Stardustannie]

YUM!! The whole family enjoyed this one. I decided on the beef and ended up with moist and nummy meatballs, like Jan I added the flour to the balls. We're not lovers of fresh coriander so I ommited that and topped with a little chopped spring onion for colour.We had ours with steamed Jasmine rice and vegetables that were just tossed in the wok with garlic and a little soy.