Pakistani Kofta (Meatball Curry)
Classic Kofta (Meatball) Curry cooked Pakistani style - Spiced tender meatballs simmered in flavour some sauce.
Ingredients
To make Meatballs
- 550 g Beef Mince See Notes
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 tbsp Garlic Ginger
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 2 tbsp Roasted gram Flour ( Besan) See Notes for Alternative
- 1 Egg
- 1 cup coriander leaves
For Gravy
- 1 medium Onion
- 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 1 tbsp tomatoe paste see notes for alternative
- 1 cup Yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder or Paprika
- 1/4 cup Oil
Instructions
To Make meatballs
- Add onions, chillies and coriander in a food processor and pulse until fine.
- Add Mince and pulse again just to combine onion mixture into the meat.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and process until well combined.
- Leave the mince to rest for at least an hour in the fridge.
- Make your hands wet or grease them with oil. Roll the meat balls ensuring there are no cracks.
To Make gravy
- Heat oil in the pan and fry onions on medium heat until light brown. Add Ginger garlic paste and fry for around a minute. Add a dash of water to stop onion from turning darker.
- Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Keep mixing and allow onions to break down. This should take 3-4 minutes.
- Add all the spices and mix them. Continue to stir until oil starts to separate.
- Turn the heat low and add yoghurt. Keep stirring for a minute.
- Turn heat to medium high and keep cooking until water evaporates from yoghurt and oil starts to separate.
- Add 2 cups of water, cover and cook gravy on low heat for around 15-20 minutes. Its should be bubbling hot. If you see chunks of onion in the sauce , use hand blender to make the sauce smooth.
- Add meatballs in the gravy. There should be around an inch of space between meatballs.
- Gently move around the pot to rotate the meatballs. Avoid using spoon as they may break
- Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
- Add coriander and hard boiled eggs. Serve with roti/naan or rice.
Notes
- You can also use goat/lamb or chicken mince
- Use fresh slice of bread if roasted gram flour is unavailable.
- Fresh tomato puree or tomato puree can be used but if needs to be cooked longer to get rid of excess water.
- If the gravy seems to have pieces of onions that don't seem to breakdown, you can use blender or stick blender to fix it.
- The meatballs should be half covered in water. If water seems to be less add little more.