I love today’s recipe. I know I say this quite often, but then… would I share something that I don’t like?? Mmmm nope! However, this is one of my favourite curries. I love meatballs as they remind me of home. My mum would often make meatballs and I think all children like them.
They are easy to make, easy to eat and easy on the wallet, so they are always a winner. What makes this specific dish even better is the sauce. To give you a rough idea of the flavor, I will tell you that it is quite mild and it reminds me of Butter Chicken, though there is no butter in this curry. It is so luscious and creamy… just looking at the pictures makes me hungry!
Most Indian recipes come with a long list of ingredients and they may appear daunting. I know they used to have that effect on me! But don’t let them scare you off, this is a very simple recipe and the most time-consuming part of it is to gather all the right spices at the store!
You can make the koftas with beef or chicken as well, but lamb is the most traditional meat of choice. You can serve them either with naan, garlic naan, Kashmiri pulao or plain steamed rice.
The last word of advice before I leave you to the recipe: make this dish a day in advance as this gives the spices time to develop their flavours. Give it a go and I am sure you will love this curry as much as me and my family do!
Enjoy!
Lamb Kofta Curry
The recipe for one of my favourite curries: Lamb Kofta Curry!
Ingredients
Koftas
- 900 gms – 1 ½ lbs lamb mince
- ½ tbsp ginger paste
- ½ tbsp garlic paste
- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp coriander chopped
- Salt to taste
Curry
- 1 onion blended
- 1 green chilli
- ¾ tbsp garlic paste
- ¾ tbsp ginger paste
- 400 gms – 1 ½ cups tomato puree
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tbsp garam masala
- 1 ½ tbsp coriander powder
- 1 ½ tbsp kasuri methi
- 75 gms – 3/4 cup cashew nuts turned into a paste
- 240 ml – 1 cup heavy cream
- 100 ml water
- 1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Koftas
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Mix together all the ingredients for the koftas.
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Make small balls (the size of a small lime) with the mixture. Put them on a baking sheet, cover with cling wrap and put them in the fridge to set for 1 hour.
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Now you can either deep fry them or boil them directly with the sauce until they are cooked through. I tried both methods and though the first one is the traditional way to make koftas, I actually like the “straight into the sauce” method more as the koftas come out softer and you save some time and calories too.
Curry
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Blend the onion into a paste.
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Heat the vegetable oil in a thick bottom pan and fry off your blended onion, ginger paste and garlic paste. Cook them until all the liquid in the paste evaporates. Make sure you cook this through and do so on a medium heat, stirring frequently so as not to burn it.
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Once the paste becomes golden brown add the cumin powder, salt, turmeric, cayenne pepper and coriander powder. Stir and quickly add the tomato puree.
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Cook the sauce until it begins to thicken.
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In the meantime, blend your cashewnuts until they become a paste and add this and the cream to the sauce.
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Cook the sauce for 5 minutes, then add the garam masala and kasuri methi.
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Turn the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until the koftas are cooked through.
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Serve with naan or rice.
Thanks so much for a GREAT recipe! I especially liked pureeing the cashews to help with the creaminess–genius move. I only used the cashew puree and some yogurt, having not had tomato paste but tomatoes in a can. Delicious!
Receipr
Good receipe
I love this recipe.
I made it out of beef, and since I didn’t have eggs and breadcrumbs handy, I used besan/chana dal flour instead.
LOVE the tip about dropping the meatballs straight in the boiling curry, instead of frying them. They were soft and it tasted kinda like shami kebabs. Yummy!
I shared your recipe on Chef At Large on Facebook.
Thank you!
Cheryllyne
Minneapolis
If you have no breadcrumbs take one slice of bread and blend it. Spread the mash on foil on a baking tray and cook for 15 mins 350f now u have breadcrumbs
Can I use a jalepeño in the curry instead of a green chile?
Hi Brianna
Yes, you can. The heat level may vary a bit, but taste wise it won’t make a big difference. 🙂
hi, can i substitute heavy cream for yoghurt? if so, would it be the same amt of yoghurt as cream?
Hi! You can, but the final result will not be the same as yogurt tastes more sour than cream. If you really want to use yogurt, use a little less and dilute it with some water. 🙂
I cooked this at the weekend and it was amazing, my family loved it
Hi! Long time reader, first time posting. This recipe is one of my family’s favourites but I have a problem scaling the recipe up to accommodate everyone and usually overestimate how many koftas i need. Can I freeze the koftas? Before cooking? ( I brown them in a pan before cooking them in the sauce) After cooking? I tend to use frozen mince as I buy it when I see it cheap and put in it the freezer until needed.
Phew that was a long question.
Best regards,
Rich
Hi Rich! Thanks for leaving a comment! 🙂 This is one of my family’s favourites too!
You can definitely freeze the koftas, as long as they are fully cooked (as you use frozen mince). You can also start off the curry and freeze it before adding the cream. Then when you want to eat it, thaw it add the cream and finish to cook the curry. The only reason why I wouldn’t freeze the ready made curry is that it contains cream and it could separate when you defrost it. 🙂
Hope it helps!
Thank you so very much for the reply Manu, and for sharing your wonderful recipes! Off to cook those extra koftas now.
Rich
Never tried making these before, looks like a delicious recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Simon
I didn’t understand how to freeze the kifta. Do you fry and then freeze and do you need to defrost before cooking or do you fry frozen kofta? Thank you!
Hi Fari. If you use fresh mince (not frozen), you can make the koftas and freeze them before browning them. You will need to thaw the koftas before cooking them.
If your mince was frozen before, you need to cook the koftas before you can freeze them. In this case, I’d suggest making the curry and freeze it before adding the cream, then thaw it, add the cream and finish cooking it.
Absolutely delicious! We are dairy free so I swapped cream and water for oat milk and water, just added until the consistency was right. We will definitely have this again. Thank you x
How many people does it serve?
I would say 6 to 8 people, depending on how hungry they are. 🙂 Hope you enjoy them!
Hello! I am excited to make this recipe, but am allergic to cashews. Do you have an alternative to the cashew paste or would it still be OK if I just left it out?
Hi Holly! Sorry for the late reply. You need something to thicken the sauce and make it creamier. Any nut would do… almonds would be my next choice. 🙂