Substitutes Matt Derbyshire and Darius Henderson came off the bench to net in the second-half after Kamara and Friend had handed Middlesbrough a two-goal lead.
A point was just reward for Forest as they had over 20 attempts on goal and also missed a penalty in front of 19,509 at the City Ground.
Match Reaction: Boro boss Tony Mowbray felt his side were hard done to by the key decisions in the game but found time to see plenty of positives.
"It was a great game,” he said.
"I think we played a very good side. Forest are going to be one of the top teams in this division and it was a good barometer for us.
"Any team finishing close to Forest this season will not be too far away. We matched them."