Mildy spiced tender meatballs simmered in flavourful sauce. This is classic recipe of Koftas (meatballs) made in traditional Pakistani style.
Meatballs are called Kofta in Urdu/Hindi. It is one of the classic dishes like Biryani, Korma or Pulao. Its a very popular curry and is a household dish. The mince is mixed with spices and then cooked in gravy that is smooth and flavour some.
HOW TO MAKE PAKISTANI KOFTA (MEATBALL) CURRY
Meatball curry is a 2 step process. First prepare meatballs, mince mixed with spices, onions chillies and coriander. And then make curry/sauce using onions and tomatoes. Add meatballs in the curry sauce and cook on low heat. They cook in the curry sauce and results in tender meat balls.
The key lies in having meatballs right. They should have soft, tender and melt in the mouth. And sauce should be smooth with no chunks of onions etc. Traditionally its a slow cook recipe but there is a shortcut that you can use if short on time.
The sauce/curry needs to cook gradually to develop flavour and also breakdown onions so there are no chunks in the curry. This takes around 15-20 minutes but if you need to do it quick, use hand held blender and blend the sauce until smooth.
Tips for Making Meatball (Kofta) Curry
- For best results use fresh mince. If you are using frozen mince make sure to drain excess water by leaving it in colander.
- The mince should be fine. Use food processor for this purpose.
The onions for meatballs should be pulsed in food processor they should be like chopped. Over processing makes onion become paste like and increases water content which makes meatballs tough.
- When rolling the meatballs make your hands wet or grease them with oil. There should be no cracks in the meatballs otherwise they will break apart when cooking.
- Use a wider pan so meatballs don’t overlap each other and don’t use spoon to stir once you add meatballs to the sauce. Gently move around the pan when you need to mix them.
- Don’t overcook the meatballs. Many people think cooking longer makes the sauce rich and thick without realising that the meatballs get tough and hard.
- If the gravy seems to have pieces of onions that don’t seem to breakdown, you can use blender or stick blender to fix it.
How to Freeze Kofta?
Koftas freeze really well both in cooked and uncooked form.
Put the prepared meatballs in a tray and place them in freezer. When they are slightly firm put them in a container. Freeze them upto 1-2 months. Whenever you need thaw them slightly ( not completely) and add them to the gravy.
Cooked Kofta curry can also be frozen. Freeze it in a freezer safe container. When required thaw it and reheat it on stovetop. The gravy gets thicker so add little bit of boiling water to adjust the consistency.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH KOFTA CURRY
Traditionally hard boiled eggs are added to curry once ready. Serve the Kofta Curry with Roti or naan. They also go well with any kind of Pulao rice.
Try Pea Pulao or Chicken Pulao to go with your delicious Meatball (Kofte) Curry.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE PAKISTANI KOFTA (MEATBALL) CURRY
MORE CURRIES TO TRY:
Aloo Gosht (Meat Gravy with Potatoes)
Pakistani Kofta (Meatball Curry)
Ingredients
To make Meatballs
- 550 g Beef Mince See Notes
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 tbsp Garlic Ginger
- 2 Green Chillies
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 2 tbsp Roasted gram Flour ( Besan) See Notes for Alternative
- 1 Egg
- 1 cup coriander leaves
For Gravy
- 1 medium Onion
- 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste
- 1 tbsp tomatoe paste see notes for alternative
- 1 cup Yoghurt
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder or Paprika
- 1/4 cup Oil
Instructions
To Make meatballs
- Add onions, chillies and coriander in a food processor and pulse until fine.
- Add Mince and pulse again just to combine onion mixture into the meat.
- Add all the remaining ingredients and process until well combined.
- Leave the mince to rest for at least an hour in the fridge.
- Make your hands wet or grease them with oil. Roll the meat balls ensuring there are no cracks.
To Make gravy
- Heat oil in the pan and fry onions on medium heat until light brown. Add Ginger garlic paste and fry for around a minute. Add a dash of water to stop onion from turning darker.
- Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of water. Keep mixing and allow onions to break down. This should take 3-4 minutes.
- Add all the spices and mix them. Continue to stir until oil starts to separate.
- Turn the heat low and add yoghurt. Keep stirring for a minute.
- Turn heat to medium high and keep cooking until water evaporates from yoghurt and oil starts to separate.
- Add 2 cups of water, cover and cook gravy on low heat for around 15-20 minutes. Its should be bubbling hot. If you see chunks of onion in the sauce , use hand blender to make the sauce smooth.
- Add meatballs in the gravy. There should be around an inch of space between meatballs.
- Gently move around the pot to rotate the meatballs. Avoid using spoon as they may break
- Cover the pot and cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes.
- Add coriander and hard boiled eggs. Serve with roti/naan or rice.
Notes
- You can also use goat/lamb or chicken mince
- Use fresh slice of bread if roasted gram flour is unavailable.
- Fresh tomato puree or tomato puree can be used but if needs to be cooked longer to get rid of excess water.
- If the gravy seems to have pieces of onions that don’t seem to breakdown, you can use blender or stick blender to fix it.
- The meatballs should be half covered in water. If water seems to be less add little more.
I used bread crumbs instead of behan or bread.It absorbed the excess water and held the meatballs well without cracking or crumbling.
My family loved your recipe
Thanks Roshan. I’m glad you loved the recipe. We mainly use bread instead of breadcrumbs to ensure the meatballs are soft. But if breadcrumbs worked for you, its great !