Welcome to One Pot Bangers, Benjamin Kemper’s weekly column, the place you’ll discover our freshest, boldest cooking concepts that require only one pot, skillet, or sheet pan. Busy week? We’ve bought you coated with these low-effort, high-reward recipes from across the globe.
Hidden on the backside of the menu of my favourite Indian to-go joint is a bit dedicated to kofta, Indian-style meatballs bobbing in wealthy, spicy gravy. For months, kofta evening was my weekly self-care ritual: shut laptop computer, order meatballs, crack open a beer, sleep like a child. However then I went broke and needed to kick my takeout behavior.
So I resolved to make kofta myself. Drawing from a recipe in Pushpesh Pant’s India, The Cookbook, I got down to replicate (or a minimum of approximate) the dish I’d grown to crave—that sauce that popped with mustard seeds and cumin, these meatballs flecked with recent cilantro, that soul-satisfying scent of coconut and ghee. With a dozen trial runs (actually) beneath my belt, I can lastly say, I did it. Meet my dream kofta recipe, which isn’t solely tastier than the restaurant model however a one-pot surprise, as well. For richer, for poorer, lengthy dwell kofta evening.
Yield: serves 4
Time: 1 hours half-hour
Components
- ¼ cup ghee, or vegetable oil
- 3 medium yellow onions, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. finely chopped recent ginger, plus extra, thinly sliced, for garnish
- 1 tsp. black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp. floor turmeric
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. floor coriander seeds
- 1½ tsp. aniseed, flippantly crushed
- 1½ tsp. cumin seeds, flippantly crushed
- 1½ tsp. floor Kashmiri chile, or scant ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1½ tsp. nigella seeds
- 1½ lb. floor lamb
- 1 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves, divided, plus extra for garnish
- 1 giant egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. Kosher salt, divided
- One 14 ½-oz. can crushed tomatoes
- 1½ cups hen inventory
- 1 Tbsp. sugar
- ¾ cup full-fat plain yogurt
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, flippantly toasted
- 1½ tsp. garam masala
- Lime wedges and toasted shaved coconut, for garnish
- Cooked basmati rice, chapati, or paratha, for serving (optionally available)
Directions
- To a big pot set over medium warmth, add ¼ cup of the ghee and onions and cook dinner, stirring often, till very tender and starting to brown, about 20 minutes. Stir within the ginger, mustard seeds, turmeric, and garlic and cook dinner till aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the coriander, aniseed, cumin seeds, Kashmiri chile, and nigella seeds and cook dinner for 1 minute extra. Take away from the warmth.
- Switch ½ cup of the onion combination to a big bowl (depart the remaining within the pot), then add the lamb, half of the cilantro, the egg and yolk, and half of the salt. Utilizing your arms, combine very effectively, then form into roughly twenty-four 2-inch meatballs and switch to a plate. Refrigerate to agency barely, a minimum of 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, to the pot, add the tomatoes, inventory, sugar, and remaining salt and convey to a boil. Cowl, flip the warmth to medium-low, and cook dinner till thickened barely, about 12 minutes.
- Add the meatballs and gently stir to mix. Deliver to a boil, then flip the warmth to medium-low and canopy. Cook dinner till the meatballs are cooked by way of, about 13 minutes. Stir within the yogurt, coconut, garam masala, and the remaining cilantro and cook dinner for two minutes extra.
- To serve, ladle the meatball curry into bowls, then garnish with the thinly sliced ginger, the cilantro, and lime wedges. Serve with rice if desired.
