Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 ½ lb (750 g) finely minced chicken
- 1.5 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1.5 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 small piece cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder or to taste
- 2.5 tablespoon gram chickpea flour
- 3 teaspoon white vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoon water to held shape the meatballs
For the curry
- 1.5 (165 g) medium onion
- 12 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup (65 ml) oil
- ½ cup (130 g) full fat yogurt
- 3 teaspoon Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 0.25 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 whole black cardamom
- 1 small piece cinnamon (whole)
- poppy seeds, to garnish (optional)
Instructions
For the meatballs
- Transfer all these spices to a grinder and pulse till they become a fine powder
- In a food processor, add your minced meat alongside the spices you just powdered and all the other meatball ingredients. Pulse this till smooth and all the spices are mixed through
- Take a small amount of the meatball mixture and pan-fry it to check for spices. Taste and adjust accordingly. Please don't skip this step as you may find you want to make the meatballs more spicy or salty and once you fry the meatballs, you won't be able to make any changes
- Once you've adjusted the seasonings to your liking, shape the meatball mixture into small/medium sized balls. I got 24 meatballs with my mixture. Try to avoid cracks in your meatballs - some are inevitable but try to minimise them as much as you can. Using water on your hands will help you to make smooth koftas.
- (optional) In a deep wok, fry the meatballs in minimal oil on high heat till they are browned on the outside. We aren't aiming to cook the meatballs through, we just want the meatballs to change colour. Be very gentle with them!
For the curry
- In a pot/pan, heat the oil and then add the onions. Fry until they are a deep brown, adding the garlic in for the final few minutes.
- Transfer the onions and garlic to a food processor and pulse till smooth
- Return the onions and garlic to your pot. Now stir the yogurt in. Mix well, and then add all the curry spices. Saute this on high heat till you see the oil begin to separate from the body of the curry
- Add approximately 2-3 cups of water. You can vary this amount depending on how much soup (shorba) you like, but I wouldn't recommend going below 2 cups. Bring to a boil
- Add in all your meatballs. Turn the heat to a low, cover and cook for 20 minutes. Once or twice during this time, pick up your pot (lid on) and swish the pot around so that the meatballs and shorba can be stirred without being touched. If we use a spoon to do this, we risk breaking the meatballs
- In the most authentic of recipes, fresh coriander is not used for kofta curries. If you want to garnish your curry with coriander anyway, then go for it! Otherwise, you can garnish your meatballs with a sprinkling of poppy seeds or leave it the way it is. Enjoy!
Notes
To adjust this recipe for lamb or beef, add 5 cups of water instead of 3 and cook for 50-60 minutes instead of 20. Mutton may require more water and cook-time, but first start off with the instructions given for lamb and beef and then see if you need to add more water and cook for longer.
If you don't have poppy seeds or don't wish to use them, simply omit them.
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