Perfectly flavorful yet Healthy Indian Chicken Meatballs Curry! This Chicken Kofta Curry has baked gluten free chicken meatballs in an aromatic coconut milk curry sauce. A great Paleo friendly dinner recipe!
Jump to Recipe
Okay so this recipe is so good, I can now officially say that I know to cook a good spicy Indian curry!
Well I did have that one success with a Tikka Masala a while ago, but I think this just beat that!
A little backstory? I baked the meatballs on a Monday night but couldn’t decide what kind of sauce I wanted them to go with. I knew I wanted to do something Indian, and planned a Butter Chicken or something of the sort.
But then I discovered that there’s an actual Indian dish of it’s own that’s essentially a meatball curry!
Goes to show how little my Indian food knowledge is, but I can tell you this curry was spot on in terms of the spiced-ness.
What is a Chicken Kofta?
“Kofta” is the Indian and Middle-Eastern name for meatballs.
They are a bit different from normal meatballs in that instead of just the usual ground meat, the mix also has onions and spices in them to give them enough flavor that they can be just eaten by themselves!
I may or may not have done that with some of the meatballs from this recipe. Shhh.
Ingredients for Healthy Indian Chicken Meatballs Curry
There’s 2 parts in this recipe, the Baked Indian meatballs and curry sauce, and they’re both equality healthy and spicy too!
For the Baked Chicken Meatballs:
- Ground Chicken Breast, or you can make your own ground chicken for this recipe from whole breast meat
- Cabbage to add to the meatballs themselves
- Almond Flour for a Paleo and gluten free chicken meatballs. You can substitute it with breadcrumbs if you please.
- Onion
- Minced Garlic & Ginger
- Garam Masala
- Curry Powder
- Cumin
- Coriander Powder
- Turmeric
- Cayenne Pepper
- Salt & Pepper
And for the Coconut Milk Kofta Curry
- Olive Oil – Just a bit for frying
- Onion
- Garlic & Ginger
- Garam Masala, Coriander Powder, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric, Cayenne Pepper
- Tomato Paste – you can use crushed tomatoes here, but reduce the amount of broth added
- Low Sodium Chicken Broth or even vegetable broth
- Light Coconut Milk for the Paleo version, or replace it with regular whole milk
- Coconut Yogurt
- A bit of Salt
How to make healthy and easy Indian Kofta Curry Meatballs:
Another 2 part process here – the baked, but again both equally easy – the chicken
First make the baked Indian chicken meatballs
While this baked chicken meatballs recipe calls for ground chicken breast, you can also make y our own using whole pieces.
Just chop it up into large chunks about 2-3 inches in size and then pulse it in a food processor about 8-10 times. Don’t over-do or ‘process’ it or the chicken will be mushy.
Note: Pulse refers to quick bursts of a second or so.
- Use the food processor to finely chop the cabbage and onions
- Mix the chicken, cabbage, onions, almond flour and spices/seasonings in a large bowl
- Scoop out tablespoons worth of the mix and shape into balls using your hands
- Place each gluten free chicken meatball on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes at 350°F
Then cook the Healthy Indian Chicken Curry
- Fry the onions, ginger and garlic in the oil on a medium-heated saucepan or pot
- Add in the spices and let them cook until they’re fragrant
- Then add the tomato paste and water, and stir
Let the mixture simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk and yogurt, season with salt, and stir it all
Now combine them both: Chicken Kofta Meatballs
Add the baked meatballs to tomato-yogurt-curry sauce, and let the curry simmer another few minutes and thicken.
Garnish with cilantro and enjoy your new favorite chicken kofta meatballs curry!
What to serve with these Indian Meatballs in Curry Sauce?
In all honesty, I had these baked Indian chicken meatballs just plain with the coconut milk curry sauce, but here’s some ideas for what to have it with:
- Cooked Basmati Rice
- Fresh Naan (Try my 3-Ingredient Stovetop Whole Wheat Naan recipe)
- Steamed veggies – Broccoli is a good one
Can you make ahead or store this Chicken meatball curry?
Yes, this Indian chicken meatball curry makes a great meal prep recipe for a weeknight dinner.
Make ahead:
Make the chicken and vegetable meatballs ahead of time and freeze them either raw or cooked: Shape the balls, freeze them on a baking sheet and then place them in freezer safe zipper bags. Let them thaw in the refrigerator before cooking the dish.
Store:
Store the coconut kofta curry in the fridge for about 4-5 days in an airtight container.
More Healthy Indian Curry Recipes to try:
Some more Baked Paleo Chicken Meatballs:
Healthy Indian Chicken Meatballs Curry (Paleo, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 lb Chicken Breast, Ground or Whole, 454g
- 1½ cup Cabbage, Roughly chopped, 135g
- ½ small Onion, 52g
- ¼ cup Almond Flour, 20g, see notes for sub
- 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic, about 3 cloves
- 1 tsp Minced Ginger, about 2g
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Curry Powder
- ½ tsp Cumin
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black Pepper
Curry:
- 1½ tsp Olive Oil
- ½ small Onion, Chopped, 52g
- 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic, 3-4 cloves
- 1 Tbsp Minced Ginger, about 6g
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Chili Powder
- ½ tsp Turmeric
- ¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 3 Tbsp Tomato paste
- ¾ cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
- ⅔ cup Light Coconut Milk
- ¼ cup Coconut Yogurt, 56g
- ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
Prepare Chicken and Vegetables:
- If using whole chicken breast, cut into large chunks and place in a food processor. Pulse about 10-15 times until it turns into a ground chicken. Do not process; Use the pulse option, or the chicken will form mush.
- Work in batches if needed.
- Place cabbage and onion in food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
Cook Meatballs:
- In a large bowl combine chicken, cabbage, onion, almond flour, garlic, ginger, garam masala, curry powder, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper, and mix well until uniform. Use clean hands.
- Spoon out a heaping tablespoon worth of the mix, use hands to shape into meatballs (about 20) and transfer to baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
Cook Curry:
- Pour oil over medium-heated pot or saucepan and fry onion, ginger and garlic until onion is translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add spices – garam masala, coriander, chili powder, turmeric and cayenne pepper – mix and fry for a minute until fragrant.
- Stir in tomato paste and broth, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Add in coconut milk and yogurt, season with salt, and stir.
- Add cooked meatballs, stir and cook another 3-4 minutes until curry thickens.
- Stir in cilantro and serve hot with a side of naan or rice!
Notes
- To replace Almond Flour, use breadcrumbs.
- In the fridge in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
- Servings: 20 meatballs + curry | Serving size: 4 meatballs with curry
- Calories: 214kcal
- Fat: 8.3g | Saturated fat: 2.1g
- Carbohydrates: 10.8g | Fiber: 2.8g | Sugar: 3.9g
- Protein: 23.5g
Hey! I'm Haylee
Google Software Engineer
I use my passion for baking (and eating) to create healthy, high-protein, good-for-you and diet-friendly desserts and sweet treats that are actually delicious.
Come join me in Hayl's Kitchen and let's eat high protein, sweet and guilt free!