Victorian Beef Kofta Curry

Victorian Beef Kofta Curry is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a for a classic beef meatball curry in a spiced onion gravy base. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Victorian Beef Kofta Curry.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry Spice Recipes Herb Recipes Fusion Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume: THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.

Original Recipe

General:
Beef, mutton, chicken, fish, crabs, and prawns are usually taken for making these curries. The
ingredients for two pounds of meat or fish are as follow:—Lard, ghee, or mustard oil, three to four
ounces; water or stock, five to six ounces; ground onions, one tbspful or one ounce; ground
chilies, a quarter of a tbspful, ground turmeric, a quarter of a tbspful; ground green
ginger, half a tspful; ground peppercorns, half a tspful; ground garlic, a quarter of a
tspful; garden herbs, finely chopped, one dessertspoonful; salt, one dessertspoonful; finely-
grated bread-crumbs, three table spoonfuls; one egg.

33.—Beef Forcemeat Ball Curry

Get rather more than two pounds of good fat beef; wash it thoroughly, and cut it into pieces,
rejecting all veins and scraggy portions; put about two pounds of it into a mortar and pound it fine,
removing all fibres, veins, &c, and if it be desired put up a broth of all the rejections. Mix with the
pounded beef a tspful of salt, pepper, and garden herbs, and two tbspfuls of bread-
crumbs; add a little of the broth, or in its absence some milk; mix the whole well together; beat up
the yolk and white of the egg, add it to the mixture, and make into balls about the size of large
walnuts; roll them in bread-crumbs. After heating the pot, melt the lard or ghee, and fry brown the
ground ingredients, sprinkling a tbspful of cold water over them; then add the coftas or balls
with salt to taste, and fry or brown them; after which pour into the pot either a cup of broth or of
water, and allow to simmer for about two hours.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

1kg beef
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
2 tbsp fine breadcrumbs
2 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
1 tsp rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp chives, finely chopped
2 tbsp beef stock (or milk)
1 egg, beaten

For the curry base:
4 tbsp ghee
4 tbsp mustard oil
1 tbsp onions, ground to a paste
1/2 tsp fresh chillies, ground to a paste
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, ground to a paste
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic, pounded to a paste
1 tbsp water
250ml stock (meat or vegetable)

Method:

Chop the beef, removing any sinews. Place into a mortar and pound to a paste then mix with the salt, herbs, breadcrumbs and beef stock.

Mix thoroughly to combine then add the beaten egg and mix this in too. Take the resultant mixture and shape into walnut-sized balls. Set these aside on a plate then transfer to your refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes to firm up.

Place a pan over medium-high heat. Add the ghee and when hot scatter over the spices, onion, garlic, chillies and ginger. Stir fry for 2 minutes then scatter over the 1 tbsp water to prevent them from burning.

Add in the chilled meatballs and fry, turning occasionally, until nicely browned all over. Pour over the stock, bring to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through and the gravy has thickened slightly.

Serve hot with rice.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.