Chicken Kofta Curry

Good food has the curative attribute to take a lot of tension away from home changing the mood of an ambiance. Once me and my husband, both sour in mood after a nasty argument, entered a restaurant. I recall how our temperament lightened up over a lip-smacking starter which incidentally was both of our favourite in Mainland China.

Such is the magic of food that it works divinely in matter of curbing depression. Our life is tugged and pulled by various factors most of which are not within our range of control. In an era of rat race and nerve-wrecking peer pressure when the words 'morality', 'integrity' are fast becoming obsolete, people stabbing each other, betraying trust to achieve one's end, infidelity are not fairly uncommon. So depression and blues are triggered by many a things, professional and personal ones. One good way to beat the feeling of blues is through eating. Hey I said 'eating', not 'binging'. If in a bout of depression, you keep binging on fast food; surely you will end up being plump and obese. Rather concentrate on eating good food in right amount. For more information on food therapy you may go through the following link: http://www.jaredstory.com/depression_food_therapy.html

About the recipe of Chicken Kofta Curry, needless to say it is one of my all-time favourites. The meat balls floating in flavoursome gravy made from curd and lots of spices add a new dimension to any meal experience. A perfect cuisine to be served in a party, it will potentially win your spurs.

For more such kofta recipes, please click the links below:

Prawn Kofta Curry
Rui Kofta Curry
Plantain Kofta Curry

Cooking time: 45 minutes to 1 hour approx. Ingredients: (makes around 25-26 meatballs or koftas) ü  500 gm minced chicken ü  2 medium sized onions (chopped) ü  2 large tomatoes ü  1 cup curd ü  1 egg, beaten ü  1 tsp garlic paste ü  1 tsp ginger paste ü  3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped) ü  5-6 green chillies ü  2 tsp garam masala powder ü  2 tsp chilli powder ü  1 tsp turmeric powder ü  1 tsp cumin powder ü  1 tsp coriander powder ü  4-5 tsp of bread crumb ü  Few sprigs of coriander leaves (roughly chopped) ü  White oil for cooking For saute: ü  1 bay leaf ü  1/2 inch cinnamon stick ü  2-3 green cardamoms ü  2-3 cloves Method: 1) Make a puree from tomato and green chillies together. Keep it aside. 2) In a mixing bowl, mix the minced chicken with coriander leaves, 1 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp chilli powder, salt, chopped garlic, the beaten egg and breadcrumbs. You need to make your hands dirty to mix in properly and form small balls from this mixture like the ones shown below: 3) Deep fry the chicken balls then. Keep aside. 4) Now in a cooking pot, heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the ingredients for sauté when oil becomes smoking hot. Allow them to crackle. 5) Add the chopped onions and sauté till onions turn translucent. Add ginger & garlic paste. Stir around. Add the tomato puree. Sauté for 1 minute and add the spices including cumin & coriander powder, turmeric & 1 tsp chilli powder. Stir around till spices blend into each other emitting a nice aroma. 6) Around this time add the curd, salt and mix in properly. Add water in good measure. I added 2 cups of water. Let the gravy come to a boil. 7) Toss in the meat balls into the gravy. Sprinkle garam masala powder on top. Simmer on low heat for 3 minutes more. 8) Serve hot with rice or naan.