Turkey Kofta (meatballs)

I am a huge fan of the meatball. Delicious rounds of goodness in a sauce, what's not to love? Whether Italian or Indian, they are delicious! Kofta are the Indian version of meatballs, usually made with ground chicken a rich spicy gravy. Ground chicken more expensive and a little bit more difficult to find than ground turkey. Besides, Whole Foods had a sale on ground turkey. They are delicious!

I combined several recipes for chicken Kofta to make this. The real inspiration though was definitely Vig's tomato masala, which I used to make mango and tomato curry. The rest of the recipe came from conversations with my sister and her mother in law about Chicken Kofta.






Ingredients

For the kofta  meatballs 　A

1.5 lbs chicken or turkey, minced

1 white onion, coarsely grated (use can give it 2 or 3 pulses in a food processor as well)

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 cup homemade breadcrumbs
1 green chili, seeds removed, finely chopped

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp chopped coriander leaves

1 tbs freshly grated ginger

2 teaspoon garlic paste

2 tablespoons roasted gram flour

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 black cardamom, crushed/powdered

1 teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon fennel powder

1 teaspoon Salt and fresh pepper
1/4 teaspoon Grains of Paradise (optional)

Masala　　　　　　　　B

1/3 cup canola oil or ghee
1 Tablespoon black mustard seeds
1 tsp asafoetida
30-40 curry leaves, fresh or frozen
4 large tomatoes, chopped with seeds

1 tsp tumeric
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon salt

For the Sauce  　　　　　C

3  tablespoon(s) clarified butter (ghee)

1  onion(s) grated

1  teaspoon(s) ginger paste

2  teaspoon(s) garlic paste

2  bay leaves

2  cloves

4  green cardamoms

1  teaspoon(s) black cumin seeds (shahjeera)

1  teaspoon(s) red chilli powder

½  teaspoon(s) turmeric powder

½  teaspoon(s) cinnamon powder

2  teaspoon(s) coriander powder

Thinning out ingredients 　　D

4  cups rick dark chicken stock

salt and sugar to taste

4  tablespoons fresh cream

Finely chopped coriander leaves for garnishing

Procedure

Make the Chicken meatballs A

1.       Preheat oven to 390-400 F

2.       Combine ingredients in A. Mix with your hands until well combined. Using damp hands, roll mixture into 30 walnut sized balls. Place on a single tray and bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.

Making the Masala  B

3.       Add a swig of oil to a wok and roll the wok around, coating the wok thinly and evenly with the oil. Heat the oil for 1 minute on medium heat. Add mustard seeds and cook until the seeds begin to pop. Immediately add asafoeetida and curry leaves. Watch you head and hands, as some oil might splash on you. Give the mixture a stir. The curry leaves should shrivel up. Reduce heat to low. Add the tomatoes, tumeric, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt. Stir fry this for about 5 minutes.

4.       Remove from heat and transfer to food processor. Blend until smooth. Let it sit in the blender for the meantime.

Make the Sauce C

1.       Add oil to wok and heat.

2.       In a wok,  add C ingredients. Stir fry until aromatic and the onions are golden brown

3.       Add the completed cooked, blended Masala B

4.      

Thin the Sauce                                                                         

1.       Add D ingredients

Add Chicken meatballs A

1.       Cook on low heat for 20 minutes, until chicken cooks through and flavor absorbed

2.       Stir in the cream at the very last minute. Garnish with fresh coriander

Pin It