Hairy Bikers Lamb Kofta Curry Recipe

Every other meatball recipe on this site mixes the meat by hand, but this Hairy Bikers kofta curry blitzes the lamb in a food processor with garam masala, green chillies, and ginger. The paste marinates overnight, and that long chill is what the headnote calls the secret to “golden balls of heaven.”

The sauce gets blended with a stick blender after simmering, which most curry recipes skip because they leave onion and tomato chunky. That velvety texture coats each kofta evenly, and the lamb stock base gives it more body than water ever could.

Ghee rather than oil makes a real difference when the onions, garlic, and ginger fry for the first 10 minutes. It reaches a higher temperature without burning and leaves a buttery richness in the sauce, and the recipe serves 6 at around 300 calories without rice.

Hairy Bikers Lamb Kofta Curry Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Indian Courses:Main Course

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 30 minutesCook time:1 hour Rest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 30 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:300 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Lean lamb mince blitzed in a food processor with onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic, and garam masala, marinated overnight, shaped into 24 small balls, then simmered for 30 minutes in a smooth tomato and ghee sauce with cinnamon and bay leaves. Served with rice, yoghurt, and coriander.

Ingredients

For the Kofta:

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 plump green chillies (deseed if you prefer)
• 15g fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• 2 tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 600g lean minced lamb
• 3 heaped tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves

For the Sauce:

• 3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 25g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ to 1 tsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• ½ tsp caster sugar
• 500ml lamb stock
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves

To Serve:

• Cooked basmati rice
• Thick natural yoghurt
• Fresh coriander leaves

Instructions

1. Blitz the kofta paste: Put the onion, chillies, ginger, garlic, salt, garam masala, chilli powder, and tomato purée in a food processor. Season with lots of black pepper, more than you think you need. Blend into a smooth paste, pushing the mixture down with a spatula 2 to 3 times. Add the lamb and blend again, then transfer to a bowl and stir in the coriander. Cover and chill for 1 to 3 hours or overnight.
2. Make the sauce: Heat the ghee in a large non-stick pan and gently fry the onions, garlic, and ginger for 10 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Add the chilli powder and garam masala and stir for 20 to 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until they soften. Stir in the tomato purée, salt, sugar, and lamb stock. Add the cinnamon stick and bay leaves, bring to a simmer, cover loosely, and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Blend the sauce: Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Blitz the sauce with a stick blender until as smooth as possible. Be careful, the sauce will be hot.
4. Shape and simmer: Roll the chilled mixture into 24 balls slightly smaller than a walnut, using damp hands or a dusting of flour if sticky. Stir up to 200ml of water into the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer. Drop in the kofta and simmer uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes until the meatballs are tender and the sauce is thick. Add a splash of water if it reduces too fast.
5. Serve: Spoon the kofta and sauce over basmati rice with yoghurt and fresh coriander on top.

Keywords:hairy bikers kofta curry, hairy bikers lamb kofta curry, hairy bikers kofta meatballs, hairy bikers lamb meatball curry, lamb meatball curry hairy bikers

FAQs

Why blitz the lamb in a food processor instead of mixing by hand?

The food processor breaks the meat into a smoother paste than your hands can achieve, and that density is what gives kofta their bouncy texture. Hand-mixed meatballs have a looser, crumblier interior, which works for Italian or Swedish styles but not for Indian kofta.

The blitzing also forces the spice paste deep into the lamb rather than just coating the outside. After an overnight marination, the garam masala and chilli have penetrated every part of the meat, so each ball is seasoned all the way through.

Why marinate the kofta mixture overnight?

The headnote says to start the day before if possible, because the chilling stiffens the mixture and lets the lamb absorb the spices fully. One to three hours is the minimum, but overnight gives a noticeably deeper flavour that a quick chill cannot match.

The cold also firms the paste so the balls hold together when you drop them into the hot sauce. If you shape them straight from the food processor, the mixture is too soft and the kofta fall apart during the 30-minute simmer.

Why blend the sauce until smooth?

Most curry recipes leave onion and tomato in pieces, but this one blends everything after the 20-minute simmer until completely smooth. That consistency wraps around each kofta ball rather than pooling in chunky pieces on the plate.

Use a stick blender directly in the pan, but be careful because the sauce is very hot and will splash. If you do not have a stick blender, let it cool slightly and transfer to a food processor in batches.

Is there a vindaloo version of this recipe?

The Everyday Winners cookbook has a lamb kofte vindaloo that swaps the sauce for a vindaloo paste base with jaggery. Jaggery is an Indian palm sugar, and it makes the sauce hotter and sweeter than this Meat Feasts version.

You can make the vindaloo paste from the recipe in the same book or buy it ready-made. Both versions use 600g of lamb shaped into balls, so the kofta technique is the same even though the sauces taste completely different.

Can I use beef mince instead of lamb?

Beef works but changes the flavour, because lamb fat carries Indian spices like garam masala and ginger better than beef does. The recipe specifies lean lamb, so use mince with less than 10% fat to keep the kofta firm during the long simmer.

The spaghetti and meatballs and Italian meatballs both offer beef options for a different flavour. But for this curry, lamb and garam masala together is what makes it taste like proper kofta rather than meatballs in sauce.