Chicken kofta and chicken kofta curry

I come from a family of vegetarians. I have always been surrounded by people who weren't vegetarians but my real exposure to cooking non-vegetarian food was after marriage. Over the years, I have learnt a few recipes that I make well (at least that's the hope!) but I rarely go out of that comfort zone. Experiments are few and far apart and mostly after a lot of reading on the web. So when my husband brought home some chicken mince, I was at a loss what to do with it. He suggested I use it to make something akin to meatballs. That's how I ended up making this chicken kofta curry.

I didn't have any of the usual herbs or bread crumbs, but I did have some basil left over from last night's pasta dinner. The bread crumbs I improvised by toasting two slices of bread lightly and then whizzing them in a food processor. The amount of mince I had was way more than needed for the curry. So I baked them separately for another day. I think these would make good appetizers served with a dipping sauce.

For the koftas or chicken balls

700g chicken mince

1 medium onion, chopped finely

2 tsp ginger-garlic paste

3/4 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp carom seeds (ajwain)

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground pepper

2-3 slices of stale bread or 1 cup fresh bread crumbs

12-15 basil leaves

5-6 curry leaves

Salt to taste

3 tbsp oil for shallow frying

• Place the bread (or bread crumbs) in the food processor along with the torn up basil and curry leaves and pulse a few times till everything is well combined but still coarse..
• Mix the rest of the ingredients and the prepared bread crumbs into the chicken mince. Add salt according to taste (probably need about 1-11/2 tsp of table salt)
• Form lime sized balls and place them in an oiled plate to prevent them from sticking.
• Heat the oil in a frying pan. When the oil is medium hot, shallow fry the prepared mince balls till they are golden brown on all sides. The intention is only to given them colour and not to cook them at this stage.  (Skip the next step if they are being used for a curry)
• Remove them into an oiled baking tray when they are nicely browned. Cover the tray with foil and bake them in a 190C oven for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.

For the curry

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/4 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp Crème fraiche or double cream

3/4 tsp garam masala powder

Salt to taste

1 tbsp oil

Few basil leaves for garnish

The koftas will need to be shallow fried as mentioned above. 

• Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the cumin seeds when the oil is hot and allow them to splutter.
• Add the chopped onion and sauté till they are softened and translucent.
• Add the tomato paste and ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle a little water to prevent this from burning or catching at the bottom.
• Next add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powder and sauté for a minute till the spices are well coated.
• Add a cup of water and allow it to come to boil. Add the koftas that have been fried to the sauce pan and add more water so they are just submerged.  Add salt needed for the gravy. Allow this to come back to boil. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes on a low flame till they are cooked fully.
• Add the cream or  crème fraiche and garam masala and mix well. Continue to simmer till the gravy starts to thicken.
• Turn off the heat and finish off with some chopped basil.
• Serve warm with rice or rotis.