Chicken Kofta Balls In Kashmiri Cashew Saffron Sauce Recipes

HERBY CHICKEN KOFTA MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Pulse yellow onions and garlic in a food processor until very finely chopped.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add chopped onion and garlic, season with 1/2 tsp. salt, and cook, stirring, until softened and lightly browned, 10-15 minutes. Add cumin, coriander, and red pepper and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Scrape into a large bowl and let cool slightly.
• Wipe out food processor and add parsley and mint. Pulse until finely chopped, then transfer to bowl with onion mixture. Add chicken and remaining 1 1/2 tsp. salt to bowl with onion mixture. Mix with your hands to combine, but do not overwork. Divide into 16 equal portions (about 1/3 cup per kofta). Shape into 3 1/2x2" "footballs" with tapered ends.
• Arrange patties on a rimmed baking sheet and roast, flipping halfway through, until chicken is cooked through and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 165°F, about 8 minutes per side.
• Do Ahead
• Kofta can be made 3 days ahead; transfer to an airtight container and chill, or freeze up to 6 months.

MIXED VEGETABLE KOFTA BALLS WITH CASHEWS

Steps:

• First make up the sauce (gravy) for the kofta. Put 1/4 cup of the cashews (or slivered almonds would also work) into a spice grinder and powder. Repeat with the rest of the nuts. Put the powdered nuts into a cereal bowl and set aside.
• In a large nonstick frying pan put 2 Table. oil and 2 Table. of butter ( or ghee-which is clarified butter). Heat over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the hing and the powdered nuts, and stir to blend.
• If the nuts are not already toasted/roasted, cook them for a couple of minutes until they darken a few shades, otherwise, skip this step.
• Add 2 cups tomato puree (or in a bind you can use tomato sauce). Cook for about 5 minutes. If using fresh pureed tomatoes, you should cook the sauce about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the sugar, salt, turmeric, garam masala and cayenne powder. Reduce heat to low and cook 3 more minutes.
• Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the 1 cup cream. Put the sauce back on the heat and cook another minute or two to just heat the sauce, but do not let it boil. Check for salt. Garnish with fresh minced cilantro.
• This sauce can be made earlier in the day or even the day before if it is refrigerated. The sauce will thicken, so will need to be thinned out when reheating.
• Make the kofta. To begin, put 4 cups mashed potatoes into a large mixing bowl. The potatoes need to be somewhat dry. You can also use instant mashed potatoes that you have made up on the dry side.
• Stir 1 Table. butter or ghee into the potatoes.
• Meanwhile, steam the small cauliflower florets and the 1/2 grated carrot until the cauliflower is soft. Drain and roughly mash up the cauliflower until it is in little pieces. Add to the potatoes. Add 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup cooked corn kernals (optional, but tastes good), 1 teaspoon baking powder, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ginger paste, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and salt to taste. Stir gently, but until everything is well mixed.
• Take 12 cashews and roughly break them into pieces with your hands and add to the vegetable mixture. Add fresh minced cilantro and 3-4 Table. chickpea flour or all-purpose flour to bind. Mix. Check for salt. If the mixture isn't dry enough, add more flour.
• Form the potato mixture into golf-size balls. Set aside for a while, if desired, covered with plastic, or make up right away.
• When ready to fry the vegetable balls, in a medium-size saucepan put oil for deep frying and heat the oil over medium-high heat for about 10-12 minutes. When the oil is hot, carefully add 4-5 of the balls and quickly brown them. The inside of the balls are already cooked, so you are just browning the outside. Cook quickly. Don't add too many balls, or the temperature of the oil will reduce too much and the balls might start dissolving. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with the rest of the balls.
• To serve: put a few of the balls on the plate and spoon the sauce (gravy) over the top.
• Many people like to eat vegetarian kofta balls with just potatoes and grated paneer cheese. I like the texture when using the vegetables. If you want to add some paneer cheese to the mixture, reduce the amount of potatoes by one cup, and replace it with one cup of grated paneer cheese. The word kofta usually means ball shaped, and can be either vegetables, meat or even ball shaped sweet desserts.
• If the kofta balls start breaking apart while frying, you can try several tricks: 1. Increase the heat of the oil; 2. Add more chickpea flour to the balls to make them more dry; 3. Dip the balls in a batter of chickpea flour, water, salt, a dash of cayenne and a dash of ground cumin (optional) and then fry; 4. Put the kofta under the broiler to lightly brown instead of frying.

KASHMIRI KOFTA

Steps:

• Mix and keep aside the salt, chili powder, ginger powder, corriander powder, yoghurt, cumin seeds, garam masala, mustard oil and ginger.
• Combine in a bowl the minced meat and all the mixed ingredients well.
• Add khoya and gram flour.
• Knead well.
• Heat ghee in a large heavy bottom pan.
• Add asafoeida, cloves and cardamoms.
• Add yoghurt and 1/2 cup of water and salt.
• Reduce heat and allow it to simmer.
• Take a tablespoon of the mincemeat mixture and roll it into 2-3 innch (5 cms-7.5 cms) long and 3/4-inch thick.
• Roll the dough with your palm over a metal plate.
• Slip each kofta carefully into the pan.
• Do not let any kofta stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add 2 tbsps. more water if the koftas start sticking to the pan.
• Cook till koftas change colour.
• Add 2 1/2 cups of water, kewda essence and saffron.
• Cover and cook for 40 minutes.
• When the gravy thickens remove them from the fire.
• Sprinkle corriander leaves.

CHICKEN KOFTA BALLS IN KASHMIRI CASHEW-SAFFRON SAUCE

Steps:

• 1. To make the kofta balls: Place the almonds, ginger, cilantro, 2 tsp. fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon garam masala, black pepper, and cardamom seeds in a medium skillet and dry-roast, stirring and shaking the skillet, over moderate heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Let cool, transfer to a food processor, and process until finely ground.2. Add the chicken and 1/2 teaspoon salt and process until minced. Add the egg and process once again. Remove to a bowl and divide the mixture into 25 equal but unevenly shaped balls. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.3: To make the sauce: In a clean food processor, process together the cashews, ginger, garlic, green chili peppers, 1 teaspoon garam masala, and saffron until minced. Add the milk and process again to make a smooth paste.4. Heat the oil in a large nonstick wok or saucepan over medium heat and cook the bay leaves and cinnamon about 30 seconds. Add the cashew paste and cook over medium heat, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes.5. Add the tomatoes, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring, until all the juices evaporate and traces of oil are visible on the sides, about 7 minutes. Add the water and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring, over high heat until the sauce comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 minutes.6. Add the chicken kofta balls and simmer about 20 minutes, adding the lemon juice, cilantro, and 1 tsp. ground fennel during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with the reserved cilantro and garam masala, and serve.From "1,000 Indian Recipes." Copyright 2002 by Neelam Batra. Used with permission of the publisher, Wiley Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.