Soft Chicken Koftay (Chicken Balls in Curry)

                                         (click on the pictures for a larger Image)

In my time like 100 years back : ) Koftay were only made of beef or mutton mince, then with the time we learned new dishes and new ways of making more elaborating dishes, likeChicken meat is a daily use in many families and of course one gets new ideas to make something different.

My Mom used to make Potato Koftay and that was quite new for many :) Now I make Chicken koftay which is new to my friends lol…

 

 I had invited my family friends for Iftaar so I made these. As I bought the chicken fillet and asked my butcher if he could make me a nice medium mince out of it , to my surprise which I did not know, he said Sorry Maam it is not allowed to make mince of chicken meat… Huh….

 That’s weird, anyway, I came home, took my sharpest knife, made small tiny pieces and put all in my grinder and gave it a twist 2-3 times and viola my fresh super mince was ready : )

Chicken meat is dry comparing the beef or mutton so we need to add good spices which make it soft. The best is if we buy the leg pieces and then use the mince of that as it is the greasy part but then this is also a long process.

 

After making the mince, here’s what I did for the chicken balls:

 

Soaked 2 white bread slices in luke warm water

Grinded 1 large onion

Sliced 2 large onions (for the curry later)

Made a puree of 2 tomatoes (for the curry later)

Now we start:

 

700 g chicken mince

1 ¼ tsp salt

1 level tsp red chili

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp garam masala

2 tsp of yoghurt

2-3 green chilies (grinded)

A handful of chopped fresh coriander

 

*take a big bowl, add all the above given ingredients in the mince.

*press out the water from the slices and mix them crushing with hands into the mince

 *add the grinded onion, green chilies and the coriander

*grease your palms before you start to make the balls as this dough is soft and will stick to hands

* make balls of your choice, I like them a bit small not the XL one : )

*Shallow fry them on a medium heat as they get fried quite soon and can turn a bit dark if we don’t keep them turning and rolling.

*keep aside and start making the gravy

For the gravy you need:

2 tomato’s Puree

200 gr yoghurt

1 tsp slat

¾ tsp red chili

¼ tsp turmeric

½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp garam masala

1 tbs tomato paste

1tbs of whole garam masala

(cloves, black pepper corns, 2 black cardamom)

¼ cup oil (including the left over from the balls)

 

*heat the oil and fry the sliced onion till nice golden brown, take it out and let it cool down

*now crush it with hands and add it to the tomato puree

*add this to the blender and mix in all the rest ingredients given above

*blend into a smooth paste

*now add the whole garam masala in the hot oil and let it splutter till it gives aroma

*pour the paste in the pot and let it cook with a lid then open and stir till the water and juices dry and you see a nice fresh gravy

*add the koftay to it and stir  so all gets mixed up and the gravy takes a nice fresh red color and the oil shows up from the sides

*now add water to your choice, I like it thick so I added just 1 ½ glass, let it cook so the koftay absorb the spicy gravy.

*Turn off when it gets the required consistency.
*as you can see These stay light in Color and are not the dark like the red meat koftay

*sprinkle fresh chopped coriander and serve with Chapatti or rice

*I made the Chickpea Polau as it is the best combination with it

 

 

                                       Make and enjoy the delish taste!