Kofta Curry | Koftay Ka Salan
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!
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 789.46kcal
Ingredients
For the koftay:
- 1 medium onion peeled and quartered
- 2 to 3 green chillies
- 10 to 12 fresh mint leaves
- ½ cup Fresh coriander leaves
- 500 grams ground meat beef or lamb
- 2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 tablespoon roasted besan flour (pottukadalai powder)
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon garam masala (Pakistani / North Indian)
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the salan:
- ¼ cup cooking oil (ghee + 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
- 1½ large red onions ground to paste (approx ½ cup onion paste)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 2 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cup yoghurt whisked and room temperature
- 1 large tomato (peeled and processed) ½ cup tomato puree
- salt to taste
- ¾ to 1 cup water
- 2 to 3 green chillies chopped
- ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves
- ½ teaspoon garam 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 onion, 2 to 3 green chillies, 10 to 12 fresh mint leaves, ½ cup Fresh coriander leaves, 500 grams ground meat, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 2 tbsp roasted besan flour, 1 tsp chilli flakes, 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp 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 tsp cumin seeds, a small piece of mace, 2 black cardamom, ½ tsp 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 tbsp 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 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder, 2 tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp 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, ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves, ½ tsp 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 789.46kcal | Carbohydrates: 29.45g | Protein: 37.01g | Fat: 60.4g
