A whole different ball game

The kofta varies in name, taste and texture across continents. It's time India acknowledged its own contribution to the multiverse of meatballs

- VIR SANGHVI

Last week, I spent three successive days in three different cities: Naples, Istanbul and Delhi. All three cities have distinctive and justly famous cuisines. But there was one dish all three had in common. And yes, it is a dish we know well in India and one we can make at home.

I refer, of course, to the kofta. Alas, the kofta has fallen from favour with Indian chefs. You don't see it on many menus. When it does turn up, it is a shaadi caterer sort of dish, made from paneer or not-very-appetising vegetables and served in a rich gravy full of kaju paste or buckets of dairy derivatives. Even the Nargisi kofta, one of India's great culinary contributions to the world, is the sort of dish that everyone knows about but hardly ever orders - mostly because it is rarely available.

I would like to be able to claim that the kofta (like its Nargisi progeny) was invented in India but sadly, history is not on our side. As with many dishes that emerged out of the Middle East and West and Central Asia, the origins of the kofta are unclear.