Kaccha Kheema Kofta Curry – Meat Balls Curry

Life has been extremely busy these past few days with hardly any breathing space, and when I do have the time to take some food pictures to blog, the weather plays spoil sport. I have been travelling quite a bit this past month and that has kept me away from my kitchen..:). Hopefully things should stabilize soon and I should be able to get back to blogging regularly.

Today I am sharing with you a new recipe, Kaccha Kheema Kofta, I learnt from one of my friends during a recent visit to Hyderabad. Hyderabadi cuisine is a rich cuisine, a blend of royal Mughlai flavors passed down from the renowned chefs of the royal families or Nizams of Hyderabad.

Kaccha Kheema Kofta curry is prepared with minced meat or kheema that is blended with herbs like coriander and fresh mint leaves, Indian spices and made into small lemon sized balls which are cooked in a paste of fried onions, poppy seeds and dried coconut.

The flavor of the kheema koftas which have been cooked in this gravy is different from the usual kofta curries and not high in calories as the koftas are not deep fried. This curry is definitely going to be on the menu for any future get-togethers at home.

1 To prepare the koftas, first clean meat in cold running water and drain well. Add half of the chopped green chillis, half of the garam masala pwd, salt, turmeric pwd, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste and half of the coriander leaves and half of the mint leaves to the kheema. Mix well and grind to blend all the ingredients. Remove and prepare small lemon sized balls (Wet your hands while preparing the koftas so that they don’t stick to your hands)
2 To prepare the gravy, heat a tsp of oil in a pan and add the dried coconut and sauté for a few mts, then add the poppy seeds and sauté further for another 2 mts. Add another tbsp of oil and add the sliced onions and fry till they turn golden brown. Remove from fire and keep aside to cool. Grind to make a fine paste.
3 Heat 1 tbsp oil in a cooking vessel and add the ground paste and cook for a few mts till it turn brown. Add the remaining ginger garlic paste, green chillis, red chilli pwd, salt and curds and combine well. Add 2 cups of water and let it come to a boil. Reduce heat and cook for 3-4 mts.
4 Add the koftas to the gravy and cook them covered on low flame for 20 mts.
5 Add garam masala pwd, the remaining chopped coriander and mint leaves. Cook for another 10 mts on low flame.
6 Turn off heat, add lemon juice and combine.
7 Serve hot with rotis or white steamed rice.