In this recipe, I’m taking the traditional Chicken Kofta curry and making it just that extra bit fancier, by adding an egg. Not boiled to serve on the side, but I’m putting the egg inside the kofta.
Doesn’t sound very fancy, but believe me, whenever I serve this everyone thinks the fancy game has been taken up a level!
It doesn’t actually take significantly longer either. Very often kofta curries have eggs boiled and then halved and served alongside the curry, so here all we’re doing is boiling the eggs first and then when we’re shaping the meatballs, we’re just forming them around the egg. It really isn’t too hard or long, but it sure looks good!
The recipe is actually quite similar to my Traditional and Authentic Chicken Kofta curry with a few minor changes. You can substitute the chicken for lamb, mutton or beef – just up the cooking time to about an hour and add an extra 2 glasses of water.
Traditionally, koftas aren’t garnished with coriander. I’ve no clue why, this is what I have heard and read from a number of authentic sourced therefore I haven’t used coriander here. Instead, I’ve garnished my nargisi koftas with sliced green capsicum. Feel free to use coriander though, or perhaps a drizzle of cream, sliced green chillis – whatever catches your fancy!
Without further delay, here’s the recipe for Nargisi Kofta!
Try this delicious and impressive dish at your next dawat or event! I guarantee you, you will not be disappointed 😉
Enjoy, with love x
- 750 grams minced chicken
- 1.5 tsp cumin seeds
- 1.5 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 small stick cinnamon
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1 tsp red chilli powder, or to taste
- 0.5 cups gram flour
- 8 eggs
- 1 tsp poppy seeds
- 1 large onion, chopped roughly
- 12 cloves garlic, minced
- 0.25 cups oil, or as needed
- 0.5 cups full fat yogurt
- 1 tsp red chilli powder, or to taste
- 2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 2 tsp cumin powder
- First, you need your eggs prepped. Put 8 eggs into a saucer and add water. Bring the water to a boil and then boil your eggs rapidly for 6 minutes. This will make your eggs soft boiled, which is something we want. To know why, read the notes below.
- Take a dry non-stick pan and add the cumin seeds. Roast them on high heat till the cumin releases smoke. Set aside. Do the same with the coriander seeds, black cardamom and cinnamon.
- Grind all the whole spices into a powder.
- Combine all the ingredients for the meatballs (except the eggs) in a bowl and mix with your hands till the spices are well distributed.
- To form the nargisi kofta, take a medium sized chunk of the meat and spread it over your palm. Take your egg, place it in the middle and then using both hands spread the mince around the egg. Try to make sure there are no cracks in the meat. You will find it helpful to oil your hands before handling the meatballs. I was able to make 8 meatballs with my mixture
- Once the meatballs are ready, heat a small amount of oil in a pan and add the koftas. Fry them very lightly, just until the outsides of the koftas are no longer pink and they begin to hold their shape. Our goal isn't to cook the koftas, but to just make them a bit more sturdy.
- On to the masala. Start by taking your onion and garlic and adding it to a pot or pan with oil in it. Saute it till dark brown
- Transfer your onions and garlic to a processor and pulse till smooth. Return back.
- Add your yogurt and all the spices to the onions and saute everything, drying out some of the moisture from the onions and yogurt. You are aiming for a thick, dry mixture.
- At this point, you can add the water for your shorba. Add as much (or as little) as you like, thought I wouldn't recommend you add less than 3 cups. Remember, you can top it up again later. bring this water to a boil
- Add the koftas to the pan. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and allow the koftas to cook for 25 minutes, checking every so often and turning the koftas here and there, so they have ample time to soak in the masala.
- Serve warm with rice or roti!
Rakesh Joshi
Sunday 19th of June 2022
Great recipe and innovative idea to simmer the koftas in gravy Capsicums will give a good flavour. Keep up the good work.
Fatima
Tuesday 28th of June 2022
Thank you!
Nick Thorpe
Saturday 29th of January 2022
You’re saying it’s your idea to put the egg in the Kofte?
Really?
Tricia Isaac
Friday 18th of March 2022
@Fatima, Lol. Brilliant recipe! Cooking as i type. Ignore above, there's always one lol!
Fatima
Saturday 29th of January 2022
At what point have I said I invented the Nargisi Kofta? ðŸ¤ðŸ¤” just reread my post and couldn’t find that bit!