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The Nargisi Kofta is the original version of Scotch Eggs, which are basically eggs cooked wrapped in meat. You can choose from lamb or chicken or goat meat. As per definition, lamb and mutton is meat which comes from sheep, but in India goat meat is also referred to as mutton. Nargisi Kofta is so called because it resembles the flower nargis or narcissus. Narcissus has a yellow centre surrounded by white petals.
The koftas are found throughout the Indian subcontinent, through Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. They are also found in the traditional cuisines of Afghanistan, Albania, Bulgaria, Armenia, Greece, Pakistan, Romania and Turkey.
According to the Oxford Companion to Food, Nargisi Kofta is a popular subcontinental dish and food historian Annie Gray notes, “I think you can pin down the Scotch egg’s introduction to Britain of the late 17th or early 18th century, and I suspect it came from India. Its forebear may well have been the nargisi kofta or ‘narcissus kofta’ — named after the flower’s white-and-yellow petals — which came to India from Persia with the Mughal emperors. The Mughals influenced two major regions with their cuisine — Awadh and Hyderabad — the egg is generally wrapped inside meat mince and fried, then served in a brown, yoghurt-based gravy.”
Here’s the recipe for Nargisi Kofta Curry.
Nargisi Kofta
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Servings: 3 servings
Ingredients:
For the kofta:
• 3 boiled eggs
• 1 unboiled egg
• 250 gms minced meat
• 1 small onion (finely chopped)
• 2 green chillies (finely chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 2 tbsps maida
• Salt, to taste
• Oil
For the gravy:
• 3 large tomatoes
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tbsps raw onion paste
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 5 tbsps whipped yoghurt
• 2 tbsps oil
• 1 cup water
• Salt, to taste
• Coriander, for garnishing
Method:
• In a deep saucepan, add water, some salt and 3 eggs for boiling. Once boiled, keep them aside to cool.
• In a bowl, add minced meat, chopped onions, chillies, ginger-garlic paste, garam masala, maida, and about 2 tsps of the whipped raw egg.
• Mix all the ingredients and meat together.
• Peel the eggs, if cold by now.
• Heat the oil for deep frying.
• Take the minced meat mix in the palm of one hand, press it down like a thick pancake or a tikki.
• Place a boiled egg in the middle of it, and then wrap the meat around the egg.
• Dust some dry flour onto the egg and dip it into the whipped egg wash.
• Follow the same process with the other two eggs and start frying them.
• Fry on the lowest flame, because the meat needs to be cooked inside as well as outside.
• Once the eggs are fried golden brown, keep them on a tissue paper to drain excess oil.
• In a pan, heat oil, put in onion puree, ginger-garlic paste, tomato puree and tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are semi soft.
• Add whipped curd, salt, garam masala, turmeric, red chilli powder and mix well.
• Cook till the oil leaves the side of the pan/kadhai.
• Add koftas to gravy and add a cup of water and boil together.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
