Nargisi Kofta, Eggs Wrapped With Lamb Mince With A Mild Curry Sauce

After another hot sleepless night another very poorly planned dinner.  I stood blankly at the meat section of my local supermarket for at least 10 minutes before picking up a packet of lamb mince. I have decided to make this dish partly due to the fact that we actually have 2 dozens eggs at home (that's another story). This is scotch eggs on steroids! If you have never heard of scotch eggs before; they are hard boiled eggs wrapped with sausage meat, crumbed and deep fried. Just like their close cousins, these koftas are delicious served cold without the sauce at a picnic. Do double the amount of sauce as you'll need quite a bit of it to mop up your rice or dip your rotis into. I served this dish with allo gobi, raita , papadums and plenty of steamed basmati rice.

Useful tips -  Place the papadums in one layer in the microwave oven and nuke them for a minute on high.

serves 6 as part of an Indian meal

for the kofta you'll need;

9 small eggs (60g), hard boiled 

1 eggs, lightly beaten

500g lamb mince or meat of your choice

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chilli powder

rice flour for coating

oil for deep frying  

for the sauce;

3 ripe tomatoes, blanched, skinned, seeded and chopped

1 onion, cut into rings

2 cloves of garlic, minced

small knob of ginger, minced

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp of chilli powder

a stalk of curry leaves (optional)

salt and sugar to taste

200 ml of yoghurt

200 ml of water

Place everything (except for the hard boiled eggs, beaten egg,  rice flour and oil) for kofta in a large bowl and mix well. Divide meat mixture into 9 equal parts.

Place a portion of the meat mixture on your palm, flatten it and wrap it over a hard boiled egg. Smooth the kofta and continue with the rest of the eggs. Dust kofta with rice flour and leave in the fridge to firm up.

Dip koftas into the beaten egg and fry kofta til golden and drain well.

Fry onion, ginger, garlic and curry leave with a little oil for 5 minutes, then add in the spices and continue to fry for a further 5 minutes before adding the tomatoes. 

Add yoghurt and water to the sauce, bring it to a simmer then add in the koftas. Simmer gently for a few minutes to warm through.

Slice the koftas in half and pour the sauce over.