Beef Kofta Curry

Over the past year I’ve seen the word ‘Kofta’ everywhere!

It mostly had ‘lamb’ in front of it, and a Kofta Curry usually involves meatballs of one kind or another, in a creamy, spicy sauce. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? I’ve made it today with minced beef, as I didn’t have lamb, but of course you should use which ever you prefer.

If you’ve ever tried my Malaysian Beef Curry https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/malaysian-beef-curry/ you’ll find these flavours familiar, as all the old reliable spices – Cumin, Coriander, Cayenne; not to mention Coconut Milk,  are included – with a few extra added.

I was delighted to find this recipe, and I must say that my kitchen is smelling wonderful today! Of course, you can use any meat you like, or even good-sized pieces of vegetable would be great in this delicious sauce, once it’s reduced.. Let’s go ‘Kofta’-ing, shall we?

EQUIPMENT:

• Large deep frying pan
• Large mixing bowl
• Pestle and Mortar, if you have one.

INGREDIENTS:    This recipe will feed about 4 hungry people!                                                                    

• 2 tbsps. sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 2 heaped teaspoons of ground coriander
• 2 heaped teaspoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of garam masala
• 1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• A finger of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 large, fat green chilli, washed, deseeded and finely chopped
• 500g beef (or, you know, Lamb) mince
• A handful of  fresh coriander, chopped
• 400g  can of coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree – I always use Sundried Tomato paste.
• 250ml of hot beef stock
• 6 cloves – lightly crushed
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken in two
• 8 green cardamom pods, shells removed, and seeds lightly crushed.

METHOD:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until softened and lightly browned.
• Add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric, masala, cayenne, ginger and chillies and cook gently for 5 minutes.

• Put the beef into the large mixing bowl, and break it up slightly
• Scrape half the mixture from the pan into the bowl with the beef, add the chopped Coriander and mix well.

• Add the tomato puree, stock and coconut milk to the remaining mixture in the pan.
• Add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom seeds – heat the mixture until it starts to bubble, and then reduce to a gentle simmer immediately.
• Shape the beef firmly into walnut-sized balls. Add each one to the sauce as you make them.
• Simmer gently for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is well reduced and thickened.

• Taste for seasoning – I added a little salt.
• Serve with steamed basmati rice, some Naan bread if you like, and chopped fresh coriander.

NOTES:

• It was interesting to see how relatively few meatballs you got, compared to my Italian-style Meatballs, which have breadcrumbs and an egg to bind them. I’d say this recipe would feed 4 people very nicely. https://eatingforireland.com/recipe/italian-meatballs-with-mozarella/
• With no bread – it makes this recipe Gluten-free, doesn’t it? 
• The meatballs came together beautifully, and didn’t fall apart at all, which was one of my worries while I was making it. Keep the sauce just simmering while they’re cooking.
• This is a fantastic sauce, all by itself – you could definitely use it for almost anything – and something like Cauliflower steaks would be fabulous in it. Don’t forget to swap the beef stock for vegetable if you’re going Veggie!