Chicken Kofta Curry Recipe:

Chicken kofta curry is a highly flavored and aromatic dish of soft chicken meatballs in spiced fillings served with creamy curry sauce. Koftas are perhaps one of the most loved dishes in many cuisines, particularly in South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa. This dish is so beloved that its comforting flavors can be offered to even the most choosiest palates. Chicken Kofta Curry is yet again the step of this thought where you actually get the perception of a flavorful chicken ball prepared with spices dipped in the great flavor of the curry sauce served over steaming hot rice or naan and parathas.

In this article, we will step-by-step prepare Chicken Kofta Curry from scratch on how to prepare the koftas, preparation of the curry sauce, and how to merge both to serve a delicious, fulfilling meal.

Ingredients for Chicken Kofta Curry

Chicken Kofta Curry will require some fresh ingredients to prepare the chicken koftas and to prepare the curry sauce. Here are some of the ingredients to start with:

For the Chicken Koftas
500 g ground chicken (preferably boneless chicken thighs to yield a softer texture)
1 medium onion, grated or finely chopped
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
1/4 cup breadcrumbs for binding
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
1 small green chili, finely chopped, optional (to add a touch of heat)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, or adjust according to desired spiciness
– 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
– Salt to taste
– 1 tablespoon lemon juice
– 1 egg, for binding
– Oil for deep frying, of choice

**Curry Sauce**
– 3 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
– 1 large onion, finely chopped
– 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
– 2 medium tomatoes pureed, or 1 cup canned tomato puree
– 1 teaspoon ground cumin
– 1 teaspoon ground coriander
– 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
– 1 teaspoon garam masala
– 1/2 tsp red chili powder
– 1/2 tsp kasuri methi, dried fenugreek leaves
– 1/2 cup heavy cream
– 1/4 cup yogurt, or more as needed
– 1 tablespoon sugar, or adjust to balance out acidity
– Salt to taste
– Water, as needed
– To garnish with: fresh cilantro leaves

Chicken Kofta Curry Recipe Step-by-Step: Preparation of Chicken Koftas:

First, let’s prepare the chicken koftas. Chicken kofta refers to a small, rounded shape meatball prepared with minced chicken and spices along with other binding ingredients. Here’s how to prepare them:

Prepare the Chicken Mixture: A big mixing bowl is taken; add ground chicken into it. Onion- finely grate or finely chop; ginger-garlic paste, breadcrumbs, coriander leaves, which is chopped, green chili ; all the spices including ground cumin, ground coriander, garam masala, red chili powder, turmeric powder, salt and lemon juice; Lemon juice serves the purpose to make the softness of chicken; it sometimes helps in keeping the koftas soft or tender.

Add the egg to the mix so you can bind all those ingredients well, and mix really well with hands until you are able to bring all the stuff together, and the mixture becomes stick but not sogg. You can add a little extra breadcrumb if wet until it kind of resembles a dough.

Kofta shaping. Take all the mixture and shape it into round balls about the size of a walnut. Wet your palms a little with a few drops of water so that the mixture won’t stick to your palms.

-Frying the Koftas Put enough oil into a frying pan or deep pan to cover the koftas. The oil should be medium-hot, not smoking. Fry the koftas in batches, so they don’t overcrowd the pan. Fry them for about 4-5 minutes, turning occasionally until golden brown and cooked through. This way, cooking them in batches prevents overcrowding, which may cause uneven cooking.

– DRAIN EXCESS OIL: Place fried koftas on a paper towel-lined plate while excess oil soaks in the paper towels. Set aside as you are preparing to prepare your recipe of curry sauce.

2. Curry Sauce Preparation:** You’ve cooked your koftas. Now it is time to get the super-delicious, aromatic curry sauce ready to swallow those koftas. Here is how you prepare the curry sauce.

-Sauteing the Onions:** Ghee or vegetable oil in a large pot; when hot add finely chopped onions. Allow it to sauté for about 8 to 10 minutes till it goes golden brown caramelized. A very important step because the sautéing of onions that caramelizes produces the curry sauce with its full depth of flavor, sweet but rich.

Add ginger-garlic paste to onions and fry for the last 1-2 minutes until it becomes aromatic. Ginger-garlic paste is mixed thoroughly with the whole curry to bring an excellent aromatic base so that it leaves an entirely new dimension of savory sauce profile on the whole curry.

Sauté the Tomatoes**: Add the tomato puree, or canned tomato puree to the pan. Cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until it is thick and oil separates from tomatoes. This ensures that the flavor of the tomatoes is full-bodied and rich as a base for the curry.

Season the Sauces: Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, garam masala, and red chili powder into the sauce of tomato. Mix them well by stirring and cook for another 2-3 minutes. This will bloom the spices and their oil coming out that is making the taste more intense in curry.

Add the Kasuri Methi and Cream: Rub kasuri methi between your palms, and add this to the curry sauce. Earthy and slight bitterness will balance out the richness of the sauce. Heavy cream adds this sauce to make it super rich by giving velvety feel to it. For an even creamier sauce, add a tablespoon of yogurt at this stage also, if you prefer that way.

Adjust Consistency:** Gradually add water and bring the sauce to the desired consistency. The sauce should be quite thick on the thicker side for a rich restaurant-type curry.

Seasoning the Sauce:** Season the curry sauce with salt and sugar to taste. Sugar is added to counter acidity from tomatoes, but that is not strictly necessary.

3. Mixing Koftas with the Curry Sauce:
This is it. Toss fried chicken koftas with the curry sauce:

Add Fried Chicken Koftas to the Curry Sauce: Let kofta simmer with the curry sauce. Gently stir and ensure that it should not break. Let the koftas cook in the sauce over low heat for 10 minutes. In this way, koftas soak all the curry flavors and become soft.

Garnish:** Chop fresh cilantro at this step and garnish the koftas with them when they absorb the curry flavors. This really gives a very good color effect and freshness to the dish.

4. Serve Chicken Kofta Curry:**

Your Chicken Kofta Curry is ready so serve it out. The curry was thoroughly relished with naan, basmati rice or paratha. Cooling cucumber raita and refreshing salad do go well, too when balancing the richness of the curry.

Chicken Kofta Curry Tips For Perfection

1. Ground Chicken Thighs:** For the most succulent koftas, use the flesh of ground chicken thighs rather than breast. More fat in the thighs makes them moist and tender.

2. Golden Brown and Cooked:** Fry the koftas until they are golden brown and fully cooked. The koftas will continue to cook slightly when simmering in the curry sauce. Do not overcook the koftas.

3. Balancing spices, that: a good curry includes the perfect blending of spices. Add or omit some chili powder, garam masala, or coriander to balance it according to your taste. Sugar needs to be added to balance out acidity from the tomatoes.

4. Simmer the Koftas in the Sauce:** It allows koftas to simmer and absorb all flavors. This develops the tenderness of koftas and makes the curry flavor-rich.

5. Use Full-Fat Cream:** To make this curry rich and indulgent, full-fat cream must be used because that will provide a silky texture to the sauce and elevate the overall flavor as well.

Chicken kofta curry is one of those dishes, put together just perfectly with tender chicken koftas and rich, creamy spiced curry sauce. It’s the kind of meal you want to impress people on special occasions or dinner parties when you want to treat yourself to a hearty yet comforting meal, in the truest sense a treat in form of blending spices along with fresh ingredients, making the meal come alive with flavors, colors, and textures. And indeed, Chicken Kofta Curry becomes a new favourite in the repertoire of recipes served over naan, rice or paratha.

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