Lamb Kofta Curry is simply delicious to have with naan bread, roti/ chapati, pitta bread or flatbread. It’s tasty to eat it with rice too. And you feel adventurous, you can enjoy this meatballs curry with spaghetti. Yumm.
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Lamb Kofta Curry
Lamb kofta curry is for those who love meatballs and curries combined. The succulent meatballs taste divine in well-balanced spicy curry sauce.
Kofta or kofte refers to a dish made of ground meat, i.e. ground chicken, ground lamb, ground beef, etc.
Although it’s not quite clear where this food originated from, I personally think it was from Persian and middle-east.
And it was brought by the traders to the Mediterranean, Indian sub-continent and beyond.
Hence, you find kofta in many cuisines such as Persian, Turkish, Arabian, Indian, Pakistani, etc.
As the name says, this lamb kofta curry recipe I’m sharing here is the kofta with minced lamb cooked in curry sauce. It is rooted in Pakistani recipes.
This dish is also known as kofta salan in Urdu which means meatballs curry.
Just like any curries, this lamb meatball curry is delicious to enjoy with any type of flatbread such as chapati, naan bread, or pitta bread.
And if you make it with more runny gravy, this dish is ideal to serve with Basmati rice or any rice dish. Chicken biryani or chicken pilau rice are a few options to choose from.
Kofta shapes
As mentioned above, kofta is made with minced meat. But its shape can be cylinders or small balls.
Mediterranean kofte like Turkish or Persian usually has a cylinder shape and some are stuck around a skewer.
And the koftas from the Indian sub-continent such as Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, etc, are shaped into small balls.
So in this recipe, we shape the meat into round balls.
How to make lamb kofta curry
Basically, you make two things for this dish, the meatballs and the curry sauce.
Both use their own spices and herbs, so when they are combined together, they will be full of aromatic flavour.
For the kofta, you just mix the lamb minced meat with finely chopped onion, all the spices, salt and flour. Mix and knead thoroughly so that you get a fairly-smooth textured minced meat.
If you like, you can use a food processor to mix. But make sure you don’t do it for too long. A few blitzes to process are more than enough.
As for the sauce, firstly, you fry the chopped onion. Then add in the ginger and garlic followed by the spices.
Once you get the aroma of the spices you put chopped tomatoes in. You can use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes. Both work fine.
Then continue cooking as you are mashing the tomatoes every now and again until you have a nice smooth and thick sauce.
When your sauce is ready, you can add the meatballs and stir carefully. Leave it to cook until the meatballs are thoroughly cooked.
Top tips to make delicious lamb kofta
- Chop the onion for the meat as finely as possible. You can use a food processor to make it easy.
- Make sure you mix the ground meat well and thoroughly. And if possible, leave the meat for at least half an hour before shaping it into balls. This will help the flavour to develop well in the meat.
- Mash the tomatoes well until you get a smooth sauce. You can also use a hand blender to blitz the sauce.
The dishes to serve with
If you are planning to spread a full Pakistani menu, here are some menu ideas to serve with your lamb kofta curry:
- Chicken Pilau Rice.
- Aloo Palak (spinach and potato curry).
- Dahi Baray (lentil dumplings in yoghurt sauce).
- Gajar Ka Halwa (carrots sweet pudding).
More ideas for Pakistani curries
Thank you for reading this lamb kofta curry recipe. I hope you are now wanting to try it. If you do, it will be great if you can share what you think about it in the comments below (leave a reply box).
And please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest. To sneak a peek at what’s cooking in my kitchen.
Before you go, don’t forget to check my other recipes for Pakistani curries that you may love.
- Pakistani lamb keema matar: minced lamb and green peas curry.
- Pakistani Aloo Keema: minced meat and potato curry.
- Aloo Gosht: Pakistani style meat and potato curry.
- Lauki Gosht: Pakistani style meat and bottle gourd curry.
- Chicken shorba: the classic Pakistani chicken curry.
Thank you and all the best.
Lamb Kofta Curry
Lamb Kofta Curry is simply delicious to have with naan bread, roti/ chapati, pitta bread or flatbread. It's tasty to eat it with rice too. And you feel adventurous, you can enjoy this meatballs curry with spaghetti. Yumm.
Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time15 minutes mins
Cook Time50 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Pakistani
Servings: 6
Equipment
Chopping board
Kitchen knife
Mixing bowls.
Cooking pan with lid.
Wooden spoon
Ingredients
US Customary – Metric
For the kofta meatballs:
- 1.3 pounds lamb mince.
- 2 small-sized onions finely chopped.
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
- ½ teaspoon ginger powder.
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin.
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander.
- ½ teaspoon paprika powder or chilli powder see the note.
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.
- ¾ teaspoon salt.
- 2 tablespoons plain flour/ all-purpose flour.
For the curry sauce:
- 2 small-sized onions chopped.
- ½ teaspoon whole cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander.
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.
- 1 teaspoon paprika powder or chilli powder see the note.
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder.
- ½ cup tinned tomatoes.
- 1 cup of water.
- ¼ cup of oil.
- ½ inch ginger minced.
- 4 garlic cloves minced.
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl until all blends nicely. And shape the meat into small balls. Set aside.
In a cooking pan, fry the onions. When they become translucent, sprinkle the whole cumin and let it cook further until the onions turn golden brown.
Then put all other spices, ginger and garlic in the onions. Give it a stir and leave it to fry until it releases aroma.
Add the tomatoes in and stir well. Put ½ cup of water and cook the spice mixture until it gets thickened. Keep checking and mixing every now and again. Try to mash the tomatoes so that you get a smooth sauce.
As the curry sauce is cooking, add in the rest of the water little by little.
When you have a not-too-thick and smooth sauce with oil separate from the edges, put the meatballs in, give them a stir until all the kofta is covered with the sauce and let them cook. You can put the lid on and cook at low heat.
It takes about 20 minutes for the meatballs to thoroughly cook. And you can see the oil separates from the edges.
Notes
- Use paprika powder if you want to have a very mild taste of curry, and you have a little one to feed. Or, you can mix the paprika powder and chilli powder if you want a little bit hotter than mild. And of course, you can always use chilli powder ONLY, or more than the said in the recipe if you prefer.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 1112mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g
Disclaimer
Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.
