Kofta — Mince Ball Binding Technique (कोफ़्ता)

Pan-Indian from the Persian kofta tradition; every region has a variant — Lucknowi, Kashmiri (rista), Mughlai, Rajasthani malai kofta, South Indian (paneer/vegetable)

Kofta is the pan-Indian meatball or vegetable ball tradition — minced lamb, chicken, paneer, or vegetables shaped into balls or cylinders and either fried, grilled, or simmered in a sauce. The technique challenge is binding: minced meat without a binding agent will fall apart, but over-bound kofta becomes dense and rubbery. The binders used vary by tradition — raw papaya (for tenderising alongside binding), chana dal paste, egg, or soaked bread. The Mughlai kofta tradition uses the finest possible mince with no binding other than the protein's own myosin, which requires very cold mince handled quickly. The Kashmiri kofta (rista) is pounded to a paste in a stone mortar.

In sauce (tomato-cream for malai kofta, red for rista), alongside biryani, or skewered and grilled. The sauce is as important as the kofta — the two must be in proportion.