Nargisi kofta (Indian scotch egg)

By: Dan Toombs
From: The Curry Guy
Makes: 1 kofta per person

These are excellent served outside, straight off the barbecue. You can prepare them indoors up to the end of the frying stage, then take them outside and cook over indirect heat on the barbecue. Like all of the tandoori recipes in this book, you can also cook them in the oven, as I have here.

Cook the hard-boiled eggs to your liking. For soft yolks, boil the eggs for no more than 7 minutes, and for hard yolks 10–12 minutes. The meat is prepared in exactly the same way as for lamb seekh kebabs.

This is a great recipe for parties as most of the work can be done ahead of time. Even the frying can be done a good hour before guests arrive, so all you need to do is heat them up in the oven or on the barbecue.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
150g	Lamb seekh kebabs
	hard-boiled eggs, 1 per person, peeled
	chickpea flour, for dusting
1	egg, beaten
	toasted breadcrumbs, for coating
	vegetable oil, for frying

Method

For each egg, roll out 150g minced lamb mixture between two layers of cling film, so that it is about 5mm thick, and flat. Remove the top layer of cling film and place a hardboiled egg in the middle. Using the bottom sheet of cling film, bring the meat up and form it around the egg.
Dust in the chickpea (gram) flour then coat in the beaten egg and roll in the breadcrumbs until fully coated. (This work can all be done ahead of time for ease. Just place the coated koftas on a plate, cover with cling film and store in the fridge.)
When ready to cook, pour about a 5cm depth of oil into a wok and heat over a high heat. When a few breadcrumbs sizzle immediately when thrown in, it is ready. Lower a nargisi kofta into the oil and fry all over for about 3 minutes until nicely browned. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with kitchen paper, and repeat until all the koftas are fried.
To finish, preheat the oven to 200°C or prepare your barbecue for indirect cooking. If refrigerated, remove the koftas from the fridge to come to room temperature. Place the fried koftas on a baking tray and roast in the oven or barbecue for about 7 minutes – the meat should already be cooked from the frying, so the oven or barbecue roasting will just warm them through.