Delicious chicken balls in homemade tomato sauce…
Happy Mother’s day to my dearest mom and to all the incredible moms out there. My mom and I always- argue, we debate, I scream, we have different opinions, I hang up the phone call…Yet the next day we talk as if nothing had happened. This happens only between a mom and a daughter and I am blessed with the most caring mother, I must say she’s way too much caring…
I am having a lovely weekend, though I have to prepare the poster for my conference. Whenever I have an exam coming up or some deadline to meet, my mind will start chanting “procrastinate and wait until the last minute”, and it had been doing the same for the past few days. In such circumstances, I truly wish if I could murder my evil mind.
Yesterday, I somehow managed to partially murder my evil mind and started preparing the poster. I was halfway through my work and I was slowly getting into the groove. Seeing me working on a Saturday evening, my hubby couldn’t resist saying this “screw it and let’s go for a motorcycle ride”. That was a boost for me, I paused my work and went for a ride. I love riding in the motorcycle, in fact, my passion for motorcycles started ever since I was a kid. We went to our favorite spot in our city, a coffee pub located right on the middle of downtown. Sipping cappuccino, enjoying the breeze, the crowd, the people, the birds, and chatting with my man…Simple pleasures of life!
I had made this chicken kofta a few days ago and I was so glad I finally made this. The slightly fried chicken balls by itself tasted so flavorful and delicious, it was then combined in a homemade tomato sauce. We both indulged in it for dinner and after finishing it, my hubby requested me to make this over the weekend as well. Do I need to say anything more about this dish???
The word kofta is derived from Persian, which means “ground” or “meatball”. This dish is popular in the Middle East, India, and Pakistan. This can be made with ground beef, lamb, chicken, or mixed veggies.
Chicken Kofta in homemade sauce
Ingredients
For making Chicken balls:
- Ground chicken- 1 lb (or grind 3 chicken breasts)
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Ground Cumin- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp (optional)
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
- Mint leaves, chopped- 5 to 6 leaves
- Mushrooms, cooked- 1 cup (optional)
For making Tomato sauce
- Oil, used for frying chicken balls- 3 tbsp
- Whole cloves- 3
- Whole cardamom- 3
- Cinnamon- 2-inch slice
- Dried bay leaves- 2
- Onions, chopped- 2 large
- Tomatoes, chopped- 3, large
- Ginger-Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- 3/4 tsp
- Tomato ketchup- 3 tbsp
- Ground black pepper- 1/4 tsp
- Cream or whole milk- 1/4 cup
- Cilantro, chopped- 1/4 cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
Instruction
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for making the chicken balls.
- I also added cooked mushrooms to the ground chicken mixture, this is just optional.
- If you don’t have ground chicken, you could grind boneless chicken breast in a food processor.
- Make medium-sized balls out of the ground chicken mixture.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet, add 1/2 cup oil, shallow fry the chicken balls in batches. Flip the chicken balls over and fry till it has turned golden brown.
- Transfer to a paper towel and keep aside.
- Heat another wide pan, add 3 tbsp of oil used for frying chicken balls.
- Add cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and bay leaf, saute for a couple of seconds.
- Add onions, 1/2 tsp sa,lt and cook covered till onions turn translucent.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Add tomatoes and cook covered till tomatoes have mashed up.
- Add coriander powder, garam masala & 1/2 tsp salt, combine well and cook for a minute.
- Discard the bay leaf from the onion-tomato mixture.
- Puree the mixture in a blender to a smooth constituency along with some water.
- Return the sauce to the pan, combine well.
- Add tomato ketchup, combine well and cook for 2 minutes.
- If the sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it down.
- Add the prepared chicken balls to the sauce and cook covered for 5 minutes.
- Add ground black pepper, combine well.
- Add cream or whole milk.
- Taste and add more salt or ground pepper according to your needs.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with naan, roti, or rice. Or serve this over pasta.
Tips:
- Use ground beef or lamb instead of chicken.
- The fried chicken balls by itself taste very delicious.
- For making vegetarian version: mash the cooked potatoes along with cooked mixed veggies and paneer, add spices and make small balls out of the veggie mixture. Shallow fry in oil, make the sauce, and add the veggie balls in the sauce.
- Ground chicken- 1 lb (or grind 3 chicken breasts)
- Chili powder- 1 tsp
- Ground Cumin- 1 tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Fennel powder- 1 tsp (optional)
- Salt- 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper- ¼ tsp
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
- Mint leaves, chopped- 5 to 6 leaves
- Mushrooms, cooked- 1 cup (optional)
- Oil, used for frying chicken balls- 3 tbsp
- Whole cloves- 3
- Whole cardamom- 3
- Cinnamon- 2-inch slice
- Dried bay leaves- 2
- Onions, chopped- 2 large
- Tomatoes, chopped- 3, large
- Ginger-Garlic paste- ½ tbsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tsp
- Garam masala- ¾ tsp
- Tomato ketchup- 3 tbsp
- Ground black pepper- ¼ tsp
- Cream or whole milk- ¼ cup
- Cilantro, chopped- ¼ cup
- Salt- 1 tsp
- In a large bowl, combine the ingredients for making chicken balls.
- I also added cooked mushrooms to the ground chicken mixture, this is just optional.
- If you don't have ground chicken, you could grind boneless chicken breast in a food processor.
- Make medium sized balls out of the ground chicken mixture.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet, add ½ cup oil, shallow fry the chicken balls in batches. Flip the chicken balls over and fry till it has turned golden brown.
- Transfer to a paper towel and keep aside.
- Heat another wide pan, add 3 tbsp of oil used for frying chicken balls.
- Add cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and bay leaf, saute for a couple of seconds.
- Add onions, ½ tsp sa,lt and cook covered till onions turn translucent.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Add tomatoes and cook covered till tomatoes have mashed up.
- Add coriander powder, garam masala & ½ tsp salt, combine well and cook for a minute.
- Discard the bay leaf from the onion-tomato mixture.
- Puree the mixture in a blender to a smooth constituency along with some water.
- Return the sauce to the pan, combine well.
- Add tomato ketchup, combine well and cook for 2 minutes.
- If the sauce is too thick, add some water to thin it down.
- Add the prepared chicken balls to the sauce and cook covered for 5 minutes.
- Add ground black pepper, combine well.
- Add cream or whole milk.
- Taste and add more salt or ground pepper according to your needs.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
- Transfer to a bowl and serve with naan, roti, or rice. Or serve this over pasta.
The fried chicken balls by itself tastes very delicious.
For making vegetarian version: mash the cooked potatoes along with cooked mixed veggies and paneer, add spices and make small balls out of the veggie mixture. Shallow fry it in oil, make the sauce and add the veggie balls in the sauce.
