Chicken meatball (kofta) curry, meatballs not fried
Curries With Bumbi · ♥ 4.4K likes · 180.8K views · 9 min video
Read about thighs in the BrightCulinary Book
Timestamp
Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 750 g boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 100 g yogurt
- 1½ tsp salt
Blend garlic cloves and ginger with a few tablespoons of water to a smooth paste.
- garlic cloves
- ginger
- water
- 1 whole large sandwich bread
Grind the sandwich bread to fresh crumbs in a food processor or blender (or soak it to a mush in the beaten egg).
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tbsp finely chopped onions
- 1 whole green chili
- 1 whole egg
- ½ tsp salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp oil
Mix the mince with a tablespoon of ginger garlic paste, two heaped tablespoons of chopped onion, the green chili, crumbs, beaten egg, less than half a teaspoon of salt, black pepper and a teaspoon of oil; mix very well, like kneading a dough.
Mixing the meatballs
With oiled palms shape into balls of any size; refrigerate on a plate until they go into the gravy.
- 3 tbsp oil
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wide pan so the meatballs can later sit in a single layer.
Wide pan and oil for the gravy
- finely chopped onions
- salt
When hot, lower to medium, add the chopped onions with a pinch of salt and fry until a little golden, stirring often; do not take them deep dark brown.
Take the yogurt out of the fridge at least 30 minutes ahead and stir it very smooth with a whisk.
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 5 tbsp water
Mix turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder and ground coriander with five tablespoons of water.
- ginger garlic paste
Add the ginger garlic paste to the browned onions and fry about two minutes until the raw smell goes.
- cold tap water
Turn the heat off (or lift the pan off an electric or induction hob), add a splash of cold tap water, add the yogurt and immediately mix very well.
Adding yogurt without curdling
Back on medium-low, stir constantly until it bubbles and the oil separates at the sides to a jam-like texture; early milk-solid specks come back together with stirring.
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 cup hot water
Add a teaspoon of sugar, about a cup of hot water (rinsing out the spice bowl with it) and the salt; cover and cook three minutes on medium-high.
Sugar, hot water and salt
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
Add a teaspoon of garam masala; lower the heat and lay the cold meatballs in a single layer, unfried.
Garam masala and unfried meatballs
From here no spoon in the pan: on medium-low, uncovered, wait 5 minutes, then gently rotate the pan.
Cover partially, leaving room for steam to escape, and simmer on low 15 minutes, shaking the pan every five minutes.
- ½ tsp dried fenugreek leaves
Add half a teaspoon of dried fenugreek leaves and finish with coriander leaves.
- coriander leaves
Variation: for a dairy-free gravy use half a cup of pureed tomatoes or a fourth of a cup of tomato puree in place of the yogurt.
Fenugreek, coriander and a dairy-free swap