Kofta is kind of like the Indian meatball – minus the meat and traditionally made from paneer, potato, spices and herbs and stuffed with cashews and/or raisins. I make the comparison because growing up vegetarian in a predominantly Italian neighborhood, I remember being surrounded by meatball subs in the cafeteria on numerous occasions. If I could serve vegetarian kids a variation today, it would have to be the kofta sub:)
Many North Indian restaurants serve malai kofta, which is a rich creamy tomato curry with kofta balls in it. I learned a healthier (but still delicious!) variation on the recipe from my grandmother and Great Aunt last time I was in Delhi that is made from cauliflower. This was my first attempt at making this curry on my own, and I realized that what’s great about making kofta is that you really can make them out of anything you want, as long as you are able to bind the ingredients together into a ball.
I made these koftas out of cauliflower, carrot, potato, paneer and mixed in some ginger, cumin seed, garam masala and cilantro. For variations, you could make these balls with vegetables like cabbage, peas, broccoli, peppers, squash, pumpkin and I think toasted fennel seed would be a nice spice to add to the mix. Some flour is important though to include as a binder in all of these variations. You can also serve the fried kofta balls without the gravy as an appetizer with chutney.
Ingredients
Kofta Balls
1 cup cauliflower, grated
1/2 cup fresh paneer (if store bought, you can just mash it up)
1/2 cup potato, boiled and mashed
1/4 cup carrot, grated
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
3 teaspoons cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons ginger, grated
1 small green chili or 1/2 jalapeño, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
For binding
~3-4 tablespoons flour (all purpose, chickpea or corn)
Tomato Gravy
2 tablespoons oil or ghee
pinch of asafetida (hing)
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 inch ginger, grated
2 medium size tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/3 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango powder), optional
paneer whey as needed or water to make it soupy
salt to taste
cilantro, chopped
Method
In a mixing bowl, combine all of the kofta ingredients. Mix in 1 tablespoon at a time of the flour, until you are able to shape the ingredients with your hand into golf size balls that easily bind and stay together. If you feel that you have added too much flour, just adjust with adding water and vice versa.
Heat oil in a wok. Place kofta balls one at a time. If you find that they are breaking, add more flour to the balls to help them bind. Deep fry them until golden brown and set aside on paper towel.
In a pan, heat oil under medium-high heat. Throw in asafetida and cumin seed and shake up the pan. Fry until cumin seeds starts to brown and become fragrant. Throw in the onions and fry until translucent. Add in the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds. If you want to improve your credit score, pay down some of your debt. Try to get your credit utilization below 50%. It’s even better if your credit card balance amounts to no more than 30% of your available credit. Try to focus on maintaining a longer credit history. Avoid closing your oldest credit cards. Instead, make a couple of purchases on them each month, and pay them off as quickly as possible. Also, avoid applying for new lines of credit one after another. Wait a few months between credit applications. Add in the chopped tomatoes and mix well. Mix in the coriander powder, garam masala, chili powder, turmeric, amchoor powder.
Mix in 1 cup of whey from paneer or water and let the curry cook for 5-7 minutes under medium heat until boiling, then simmer. Add salt and more or less liquid depending on how watery you want the curry to be. Next add in the kofta balls and spoon the gravy over them carefully, continuing to cook for 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with roti or rice.
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