Easy Recipe of Lamb Kofta Curry Pakistani Style

Lamb Kofta Curry is simply delicious to have with naan bread, roti/ chapati, pitta bread or flatbread. It’s tasty to eat it with rice too. And you feel adventurous, you can enjoy this meatballs curry with spaghetti. Yumm.

Meatball curry.

Lamb Kofta Curry 

Lamb kofta curry is for those who love meatballs and curries combined. The succulent meatballs taste divine in well-balanced spicy curry sauce. 

Kofta or kofte refers to a dish made of ground meat, i.e. ground chicken, ground lamb, ground beef, etc. 

Although itโ€™s not quite clear where this food originated from, I personally think it was from Persian and middle-east. 

And it was brought by the traders to the Mediterranean, Indian sub-continent and beyond.

Hence, you find kofta in many cuisines such as Persian, Turkish, Arabian, Indian, Pakistani, etc. 

As the name says, this lamb kofta curry recipe Iโ€™m sharing here is the kofta with minced lamb cooked in curry sauce. It is rooted in Pakistani recipes. 

Kofta meatballs curry

This dish is also known as kofta salan in Urdu which means meatballs curry. 

Just like any curries, this lamb meatball curry is delicious to enjoy with any type of flatbread such as chapati, naan bread, or pitta bread. 

And if you make it with more runny gravy, this dish is ideal to serve with Basmati rice or any rice dish. Chicken biryani or chicken pilau rice are a few options to choose from. 

Kofta shapes

As mentioned above, kofta is made with minced meat. But its shape can be cylinders or small balls. 

Mediterranean kofte like Turkish or Persian usually has a cylinder shape and some are stuck around a skewer. 

And the koftas from the Indian sub-continent such as Indian, Pakistani, Bengali, etc, are shaped into small balls. 

So in this recipe, we shape the meat into round balls. 

How to make lamb kofta curry

Basically, you make two things for this dish, the meatballs and the curry sauce. 

Both use their own spices and herbs, so when they are combined together, they will be full of aromatic flavour.

For the kofta, you just mix the lamb minced meat with finely chopped onion, all the spices, salt and flour. Mix and knead thoroughly so that you get a fairly-smooth textured minced meat. 

If you like, you can use a food processor to mix. But make sure you donโ€™t do it for too long. A few blitzes to process are more than enough. 

As for the sauce, firstly, you fry the chopped onion. Then add in the ginger and garlic followed by the spices. 

frying spices
fried spices
adding canned tomatoes to the spices
ready cooked curry sauce

Once you get the aroma of the spices you put chopped tomatoes in. You can use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes. Both work fine. 

Then continue cooking as you are mashing the tomatoes every now and again until you have a nice smooth and thick sauce. 

When your sauce is ready, you can add the meatballs and stir carefully. Leave it to cook until the meatballs are thoroughly cooked. 

meatballs in the curry sauce
ready cooked lamb kofta curry in a metal bowl

Top tips to make delicious lamb kofta

  • Chop the onion for the meat as finely as possible. You can use a food processor to make it easy. 
  • Make sure you mix the ground meat well and thoroughly. And if possible, leave the meat for at least half an hour before shaping it into balls. This will help the flavour to develop well in the meat.
  • Mash the tomatoes well until you get a smooth sauce. You can also use a hand blender to blitz the sauce. 

The dishes to serve with

If you are planning to spread a full Pakistani menu, here are some menu ideas to serve with your lamb kofta curry:

  1. Chicken Pilau Rice.
  2. Aloo Palak (spinach and potato curry).
  3. Dahi Baray (lentil dumplings in yoghurt sauce).
  4. Gajar Ka Halwa (carrots sweet pudding).

More ideas for Pakistani curries

Thank you for reading this lamb kofta curry recipe. I hope you are now wanting to try it. If you do, it will be great if you can share what you think about it in the comments below (leave a reply box). 

And please follow me on Facebook, Instagram and/or Pinterest. To sneak a peek at whatโ€™s cooking in my kitchen. 

Before you go, donโ€™t forget to check my other recipes for Pakistani curries that you may love.

Thank you and all the best. 

Lamb Kofta Curry Pakistani Style
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4.45 from 20 votes

Lamb Kofta Curry

Lamb Kofta Curry is simply delicious to have with naan bread, roti/ chapati, pitta bread or flatbread. It's tasty to eat it with rice too. And you feel adventurous, you can enjoy this meatballs curry with spaghetti. Yumm.
Author: Devy Dar
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time50 minutes
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Pakistani
Servings: 6

Equipment

  • Chopping board
  • Kitchen knife
  • Mixing bowls.
  • Cooking pan with lid.
  • Wooden spoon

Ingredients

For the kofta meatballs:

  • 1.3 pounds lamb mince.
  • 2 small-sized onions finely chopped.
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
  • ยฝ teaspoon ginger powder.
  • ยฝ teaspoon ground cumin.
  • ยฝ teaspoon ground coriander.
  • ยฝ teaspoon paprika powder or chilli powder see the note.
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.
  • ยพ teaspoon salt.
  • 2 tablespoons plain flour/ all-purpose flour.

For the curry sauce:

  • 2 small-sized onions chopped.
  • ยฝ teaspoon whole cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin.
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander.
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.
  • 1 teaspoon paprika powder or chilli powder see the note.
  • ยฝ teaspoon turmeric powder.
  • ยฝ cup tinned tomatoes.
  • 1 cup of water.
  • ยผ cup of oil.
  • ยฝ inch ginger minced.
  • 4 garlic cloves minced.

Instructions

  • Mix all the ingredients for the meatballs in a bowl until all blends nicely. And shape the meat into small balls. Set aside.
  • In a cooking pan, fry the onions. When they become translucent, sprinkle the whole cumin and let it cook further until the onions turn golden brown.
  • Then put all other spices, ginger and garlic in the onions. Give it a stir and leave it to fry until it releases aroma.ย 
  • Add the tomatoes in and stir well. Put ยฝ cup of water and cook the spice mixture until it gets thickened. Keep checking and mixing every now and again. Try to mash the tomatoes so that you get a smooth sauce.
  • As the curry sauce is cooking, add in the rest of the water little by little.ย 
  • When you have a not-too-thick and smooth sauce with oil separate from the edges, put the meatballs in, give them a stir until all the kofta is covered with the sauce and let them cook. You can put the lid on and cook at low heat.
  • It takes about 20 minutes for the meatballs to thoroughly cook. And you can see the oil separates from the edges.

Notes

  • Use paprika powder if you want to have a very mild taste of curry, and you have a little one to feed. Or, you can mix the paprika powder and chilli powder if you want a little bit hotter than mild. And of course, you can always use chilli powder ONLY, or more than the said in the recipe if you prefer.ย 

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 786kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 164mg | Sodium: 1112mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g

Disclaimer

Nutritional info in this recipe is only estimate using online calculator. You should refer to it as a guide only. Please verify with your own data if you seek an accurate info.

Author: Devy Dar

Title: Food Writer, Recipe Developer, and Digital Content Creator.

Bio:

Devy Dar founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Readerโ€™s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appetit, and more.ย 

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13 Comments

  1. Claudia Lamascolo says:

    5 stars
    great recipe!

  2. Claudia Lamascolo says:

    we just love lamb and this was so delicious I cant wait to make it again great recipe!

    1. I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Thanks.

  3. Wow! I am loving all the spices and flavors in this curry, looks absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to try this recipe.

    1. Thank you. I hope you’ll like it.

  4. Patty at Spoonabilities says:

    The flavors and spices in this recipe are amazing! Definitely a favorite new recipe of mine!

    1. Thank you. It’s our family’s favourite too.

  5. Eileen Kelly says:

    5 stars
    We love lamb and I was looking for a new recipe. This kofta was fantastic and the curry delish. My hubs loved it and he does not always like lamb so big plus. I will make this often.

  6. 5 stars
    There is no reason to buy kofta curry from restaurants if you can make delicious curry like this! Yummy!

  7. This is my absolute favourite recipe and it never fails to hit the spot!! Thank you for sharing.

    1. Thank you so very much for your kind words. I’m glad you like it as much as we do. All the best.

  8. Where do the 36g of carbs per serving come from ?

    1. Hi, first of all, please do take the nutritional info in this website as estimate only and do not use it for medical/ health reference as it uses online calculator. As we note on the disclaimer below each recipe card, you will have to verify your own data to seek an accurate info. And for the question re carb, I think it comes from spices, plain flour and tomatoes. Because these items contain low carb. Hope that helps.

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