A popular Indian and Pakistani dish made with meatballs cooked in a tangy tomato yoghurt curry. And guess what? we make the Koftas without eggs, breadcrumbs, or frying!
1½large red onionsground to paste (approx ½ cup onion paste)
1tablespoonginger garlic paste
2teaspoonred chilli powder
1teaspoonKashmiri red chilli powder
2teaspooncoriander powder
½teaspoonturmeric powder
1cupyoghurtwhisked and room temperature
1large tomato(peeled and processed) ½ cup tomato puree
salt to taste
¾ to 1cupwater
2 to 3green chillieschopped
FistfulFresh coriander leaveschopped
½teaspoongaram masala(Pakistani / North Indian)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare koftas:
Add the onion, green chillies and fresh herbs into a food processor and pulse a few times until shredded. Next add the ground meat, ground spices, roasted gram flour, and salt. Process until well combined.
1 medium-sized red onion, 2 to 3 green chillies, 10 to 12 fresh mint leaves, Fistful Fresh coriander leaves, 500 grams ground meat, 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, 2 tablespoon roasted besan flour, 1 teaspoon chilli flakes, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt
Shape the mixture into equal-sized meatballs. Makes roughly 12 to 18 koftas. Keep them covered and refrigerated until needed. You can make this a day ahead.
Prepare the curry:
Place a wide-bottomed saucepot on medium to high heat and add some oil and ghee. When the oil is warm, add the whole spices and let them swell for a few seconds only. Any longer, the spices may get burnt.
¼ cup cooking oil, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, a small piece of mace, 2 black cardamom, ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, 7 cloves, ½ inch cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf
Next, add the prepared onion paste and sauté until golden. This will take a few minutes.
1½ large red onions
Now, add the ginger garlic paste and sauté until it smells nice and is no longer raw.
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
Reduce the heat to low to medium and add the ground spices with a splash of water and cook until the oil separates. As soon as you see a film of oil around the edges and top, it is time for the next step.
2 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, 2 teaspoon coriander powder, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
On low heat, add the whisked room-temperature yoghurt in small batches. Do it in two or three batches each time stirring into the masala until no traces of yoghurt remain.
1 cup yoghurt
Turn the heat to medium and continue to whisk with the back of the ladle until the oil surfaces. This may take anywhere between 5 to 8 minutes.
Next, stir in the prepared tomato puree with a dash of salt and cook for a few minutes or until you start seeing... you guessed it – the oil!
1 large tomato, salt to taste
Now, stir in water and bring to a light boil. This is to ensure that the gravy is warm when you place the koftas so they don't crack.
¾ to 1 cup water
Add the meatballs to the curry:
Place the meatballs in a single layer in the pan and bring to a boil on medium heat. At this stage, refrain from stirring the koftas. Now, cover the pot and cook on low for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the meatballs only when they are no longer looking raw. This will ensure you don’t break the meatballs before it got time to set.
Open and stir the kofta curry and taste and adjust the salt. Now, reduce the heat to low and again cook covered for another 10 to 15 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.
Lastly, open and stir in freshly chopped green chillies and coriander leaves. Let it simmer for 2 to 3 minutes and then switch it off. Sprinkle some garam masala and serve immediately with rice, roti, naan, paratha, etc.
2 to 3 green chillies, Fistful Fresh coriander leaves, ½ teaspoon garam masala
Notes
Do this first: The first step for any yoghurt sauce-based curries is to measure out the yoghurt, whisk until no lumps and keep it on the counter. This must be room temp before using in the curry.Tip:To avoid washing the processor too many times, I like to prep the ingredients in a specific order. Puree the onions, and use a rubber spatula to transfer the content to a bowl. Next, puree the peeled fresh tomatoes and transfer them to another bowl. Lastly, prepare the ground meat mixture as indicated.