Chicken kofta is an Indian version of meatballs made with minced chicken, spinach and some warm spices simmered in an onion-tomato gravy. Yes, I have used spinach in this recipe of chicken kofta and you will not gonna taste it at all. So this is a pretty healthy recipe with white meat chicken and spinach balls simmered in a thick but not fattening gravy. This kofta curry goes really well with chapati or roti and rice. You can also serve it over some whole grain spaghetti for spaghetti with meatballs version.
So in this recipe, minced chicken, steamed spinach, whole wheat bread crumbs, crushed walnuts, ginger, garlic, chilly and some garam masala are mixed well and form into balls and sauteed in a pan with little oil and then it is dropped into a tangy and spicy gravy made with onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes and some Indian spices. There is no cream in this recipe but if you want it more royal, you can add maybe 2-4 Tbsp of heavy cream or coconut milk or cashew cream.
The best part of this recipe of chicken kofta is the hidden spinach in the chicken balls, a very nice way to add spinach in your diet. The frozen spinach works well in this recipe as it will make your life very easy. No chopping or blanching here! You just have to thaw it and squeeze it dry and add it to the minced chicken.
Chicken Kofta Recipe
Course: MainCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Medium6
servings30
minutes40
minutesChicken kofta is an Indian version of meatballs made with minced chicken, spinach and some warm spices simmered in an onion-tomato gravy.
Ingredients
- For Chicken Kofta Balls :-
1 lb or 450 gms of mince chicken
9 oz of frozen spinach, thawed
1/4 cup of whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup of walnuts, coarsely chopped
1-inch ginger, grated
4 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp of garam masala or curry powder
Chilly powder to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 Tbsp of oil for shallow frying
- For Gravy :-
1 Tbsp of oil
2 medium red onions, chopped
1.5 inch of ginger, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp of turmeric powder
1 tsp of chilli powder or to taste
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of coriander powder
4 medium tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp of cilantro chopped
Directions
- For Chicken Kofta Balls :-
- Thaw the spinach completely and squeeze it as much as you can and save its water and keep it aside.
- Now in a large bowl, mix minced chicken with spinach, ginger, garlic, bread crumbs, walnut and dry spices and form into 15-18 balls.
- In a wide pan, add oil and fry the balls just enough to get golden color all around the chicken balls. You do not want to cook it through. Keep it aside.
- For Gravy :-
- Heat oil in the same pan in which you have fried chicken kofta balls. Now add ginger, onion, garlic and salt. Saute it by scraping all the browned bits off the pan.
- When the onions are light brown, add all the dry spices and saute again for a minute.
- Then add the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are mushy and done. It will take about 10-12 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool down a bit. Then process it in the blender with the leftover spinach water. Do not over process it. The gravy should be a little grainy.
- Now pour the gravy back into the pan and add some water according to your desired gravy consistency and let it comes to a slow boil.
- Drop the chicken balls into the gravy, put on the lid and let it simmer over low heat until the chicken ball is cooked through. It will take 10-12 minutes.
- Turn of the heat and sprinkle cilantro over the gravy and chicken kofta is ready to serve.
Notes
- Serve chicken kofta warm with chapati or roti or pulao or spaghetti.
- You can add a touch of heavy cream or coconut cream in the end, to make it rich.
- If using fresh spinach, steam it or blanch it and let it cool down, then squeeze it dry and add to the chicken.
