page_title: Kofta
section_title: India
hierarchical_section_title: Kofta / Variations / India
caption_attribution_description: English: مچھلی کے کوفتے
context_page_description: Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in the Indian subcontinent, South Caucasian, Middle Eastern, Balkan, and Central Asian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of ground meat - usually beef, chicken, lamb or mutton, pork, or a mixture - mixed with spices or onions. In Muslim areas, pork is not used, and in India, beef is not used. In Greece and Cyprus, vegetarian versions are known as hortokeftedes, and often eaten during fasting periods such as Lent. An uncooked version is also made in Turkey, called çiğ köfte. In India, vegetarian varieties may use potato, calabash, paneer, or banana. In Europe, kofta is often served in a fast-food sandwich in kebab shops.
  Koftas in India are usually served cooked in a spicy curry and are eaten with boiled rice or a variety of Indian breads. In Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Azerbaijan, koftas are served with a gravy, as dry variations are considered to be kebabs. Shrimp and fish koftas are found in South India, West Bengal, and some parts of the Persian Gulf.
context_section_description: Sushrutha Samhita mentions meatballs made of ground meat and was termed pishtha. Koftas in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent are normally cooked in a spiced gravy, or curry, and sometimes simmered with hard-boiled eggs. Vegetarian koftas are eaten by a large population in India. The British dish Scotch egg may have been inspired by the Indian dish Nargisi kofta, where hard-boiled eggs are encased in a layer of spicy kofta meat. In Bengal, a region of eastern India, koftas are made from prawns, fish, green bananas, cabbage or meat, such as minced goat meat.
caption: Fish kofta curry from the Indian subcontinent
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