Pakistani-Style Beef Nargisi Kofta Curry is a special and unique dish from Pakistan. It features a whole egg wrapped in ground beef, seasoned with a mix of delicious herbs and spices.
WHAT IS NARGISI KOFTA?
Pakistani-Style Beef Nargisi Kofta Curry, a popular dish in both North India and Pakistan, features a unique twist with an egg wrapped in a flavorful curry. While some versions serve the hard-boiled egg alongside the kofta curry, the authentic Pakistani recipe involves enclosing the egg in a mixture of spiced ground beef.
This recipe is from my great-grandmother and has been passed down through my paternal grandmother, my mother, and now to me just like my Beef Kofta Curry recipe. It's made to perfection!
This outstanding Pakistani main dish recipe has earned great popularity in the region, offering a memorable and delightful dining experience. It is particularly known for its mild spiciness just like Beef Pasanday and Pakistani Beef Stew.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REGULAR KOFTA CURRY AND NARGISI KOFTA?
Unlike traditional Beef Kofta curry, which uses spiced meatballs without eggs, Nargisi Kofta features hard-boiled eggs inside a flavorful ground beef mixture. While both are meatball curries, Nargisi Kofta stands out with its unique egg filling, making it a special dish.
HOW NOT TO BREAK THE MEATBALLS WHEN COOKING NARGISI KOFTA?
To help the Kofta balls hold their shape during cooking, binding agents like Chana dal (split chickpeas) and rice are used. When wrapping the eggs in the ground beef mixture, gently pressing and shaping the meatballs between your palms ensures a secure and even coating of beef around the eggs.
INGREDIENTS
- Eggs- It is essential to ensure that the eggs are fully cooked and hard-boiled before incorporating them into the recipe.
- Ground beef- The ground beef is skillfully combined with aromatic cilantro and an array of spices, infusing it with a rich and flavorsome profile.
- Channa Dal and rice- The addition of these binding agents serves to hold the kofta together when they are introduced into the curry, resulting in a cohesive and well-formed texture.
HOW TO COOK NARGISI KOFTA?
Soak lentil and rice overnight.
Hard-boiled the eggs.
In a food processor add garlic, ginger, onion, and other ingredients and pulse them.
Next add cilantro, drained lentil, rice and pulse them.
They should look like this.
Add ground beef.
Pulse them.
Fry the onion.
Take it out in a paper towel leaving some oil in the pot.
Take ground beef mixture out of the food processor. Add in the fried onion and yogurt and pulse them.
It should look like this.
Take some yogurt and fried onion mixture and add to it to the ground beef.
Mix it in the mixture.
Now let's stuffed hard boiled egg in the ground beef mixture.
See video how to do it properly.
See video for this step.
Watch video for this step!
Now that you have shaped, let's move on to the next step.
Next add salt and powdered spices.
Add water.
Add in the meatballs.
When the meatballs are half done add little dollops of the fried onion and yogurt mixture.
Turn the meatballs like this make sure you see the video for this step.
Let everything cook and garnish.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH NARGISI KOFTA?
Nargisi Kofta is ideally accompanied by Naan, although it can also be served alongside Chapati. Additionally, Kachumber salad is highly favored by my in-laws as a delightful accompaniment to this dish.
HOW TO STORE IT?
There are several options to store it:
- If you’ve made the ground beef mixture in advance, it’s best to freeze it until you’re ready to use it. When you’re ready, thaw the mixture, cook the hard-boiled eggs, stuff them with the mixture, and make the curry.
- If everything is prepared, you can store the Nargisi Kofta in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- It’s not recommended to freeze the Nargisi Kofta once the eggs are stuffed with the beef mixture, as freezing can change the texture and flavor. It’s best to enjoy it right away or keep it in the fridge for a short time.
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Let's Make Nargisi Kofta Curry!!!
Pakistani-Style Beef Nargisi Kofta Curry
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 tsp split chickpeas lentil channa dal
- 2 tbsp basmati rice
- 3 cloves
- 3 green cardamoms
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1 black cardamom
- 1½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1½ tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1½ bunch cilantro
- 3 green peppers
- 6 garlic cloves
- 3 inch ginger
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1½ tsp kosher salt or as needed
Yogurt and onion mixture
- 7 tbsp yogurt
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup olive oil
Curry
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2½ cup water
Whole spices in the curry
- 1 black cardamom
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 5 black peppercorns
- 2 green cardamoms
- 2 cloves
- 2 dried long red pepper
Powdered spices in the curry
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Garnish
- ¼ bunch cilantro finely chopped
- ½ inch ginger julienne
Instructions
Rice and Lentil
- Soak combine rice and the lentil in a small bowl and let them soak in water for overnight or 7 hours.
- Discard the water from the bowl.
Eggs
- Hard boiled the eggs.
- Peel the shell and set the eggs aside.
Meatball mixture
- Meatballs combine red chili powder, black peppercorns, cumin seeds, cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom, onion, cilantro, green pepper, lentil, rice, salt and black pepper, garlic, and ginger. Pulse them for about 2 minutes in the food processor.
- Now add ground beef and pulse it in the food processor for 1 minute. Take it out of the food processor ground beef mixture and set aside. (but don't wash the food processor as of yet.)
Yogurt and onion mixture
- Heat ⅓ cup of oil in a medium size pot on medium heat.
- Add onions and sauté until medium brown.
- Take it out and set it aside on a plate, let it cool down for 10 minutes.
- Now add yogurt and the brown onion in a blender. Blend for 20-30 seconds.
- Now take 2 tbsp of the yogurt mixture and mix it in your ground beef mixture.
- Take out rest of the yogurt mixture, set aside for later use in the curry. (If you miss this step then your meatballs could fall apart while cooking and they won't be moist.)
Shaping the Meatballs
- Please watch the video to see how to shape the meatballs with eggs stuffed in them. Make sure you apply some olive oil on your hand before shaping them.
Curry
- Now you’re ready to make the curry, in the same pot and in the same oil that was used to fry the onions. Add ¼ cup of olive oil and let it heat up on medium heat.
- Add black cardamom, cinnamon, green cardamom, black peppercorns, cloves, and dried long red peppers.
- Next add ginger garlic paste and mix that around for 20 seconds.
- Add salt, red chili powder, coriander powder, and turmeric powder.
- Turn the stove to medium-low.
- Start mixing everything together for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add water and turn the stove to medium.
- Let it cook for 5 minutes.
- Place the meatballs in your 2-2 ½ cups of curry in the pot.
- When the meatballs are half cooked add the yogurt and onion mixture as a form of dollop in between the meatballs.
- Now don't try to stir in the little dollops with a cooking spoon instead move the pot back and forth by grabbing on the handle (use oven mitts) and gently shaking the pot slowly.
- Get a spatula and a spoon and turn each meatball over gently so they can cook evenly.
- Next let it cook for about 7-9 minutes
- Next turn the stove to medium-low cook them for about 5 minutes or until they are fully cooked.
- Garnish with cilantro and ginger.
- Serve it hot with naan or chapati.
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