“Koftas are succulent, Indian-style vegetable balls that can be served soaking in sauce or smothered in gravy. A number of vegetables are suitable for making kofta – potato, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and radish being the most popular. Makes 24 koftas”
The vegetable patties in the recipe fried in oil, but you could instead bake them in your oven, oil-free. We’ve included this option below as an alternative.
A fun meal “borrowed” from a Hare Krishna vegetarian recipe book :-) We’ve met Hare Krishna before, here in Invercargill and in Wellington during the Aotearoa Animal Rights Conference
Chickpea flour (“chana flour”) and asafoetida (“hing”) spice are used in this recipe. They are available in the Indian section of supermarkets, Bin Inn in South City or Priya Spice Store intown. Note the wonderful green dot symbol on the container, Indian products are labelled “vegetarian” green or “non vegetarian” brown. Imagine a Vegan world where EVERYTHING is labelled vegan or “non vegan”! :-)
Here is the basic recipe, we’ll share a step by step recipe below :-)
Ingredients
Sauce
=====
2 teaspoons oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon yellow asafoetida (“hing”) powder
4 cups tomato puree (2 cans)
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Koftas
========
2 cups grated cauliflower
2 cups grated cabbage
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon yellow asafoetida (“hing”) powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
“Prepare the sauce.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over moderate heat. When hot, drop in the bay leaves and sauté for 1 minute or until fragrant. Sprinkle in the yellow asafoetida powder and fry momentarily.
“Stir in the tomato puree and basil. Raise the heat, bringing to a boil then reduce the head and simmer for 10 minutes or until a little reduced.
Add the salt, pepper and sugar.
Remove from the heat and keep warm.
Prepare the koftas
Combine all kofta ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Roll the mixture into ~24 balls. Heat the oil for frying. Carefully drop in 6-8 balls. (Leave a little room between them all for turning)
Fry the koftas for 2-3 minutes or until they started to turn golden brown. Reduce the heat to low and fry for another few minutes until they are a deeper brown.
( Oil-free alternative: bake the patties for about 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees. Flip them over every ten minutes)
Soak the koftas in the hot sauce for 10 minutes before serving. This allows them to become plump and succulent. They are great on a bed of steaming hot rice or couscous as part of a main meal. They also work well as an accompaniment to other dishes.”
Enjoy with your friends :-)
Step by step recipe with photos
“Prepare the sauce.
Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a saucepan over moderate heat. When hot, drop in 2 bay leaves and sauté for 1 minute or until fragrant. Sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon of yellow asafoetida powder and fry momentarily.”
“Stir in the 4 cups (2 cans) of tomato puree and 1 teaspoon of basil. Raise the heat, bringing to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until a little reduced.
Add 2 teaspoons of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper and 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar.
Remove from the heat and keep warm.”
We put a lid on the pot, and started on the kofta balls themselves.
Grating two cups each of cabbage and cauliflower
Hard to believe minced cabbage and cauliflower could make an awesome meal? Just wait :-)
“Prepare the koftas
Combine all kofta ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.”
( 2 cups grated cauliflower
2 cups grated cabbage
1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon yellow asafoetida (“hing”) powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper )
Kofta ingredients together….
….mixed together, ta-da! No liquid required, and the chickpea flour seems to help the kofta rise? It’s a miracle!
“Roll the mixture into ~24 balls.” We ended up with around 18.
( Oil-free alternative: bake the patties for about 20-30 minutes at 180 degrees. Flip them over every ten minutes)
“Heat the oil for frying. Carefully drop in 6-8 balls.” (Leave a little room between them all for turning). Note the other pots, the sauce is hanging out in the background, alongside a pot of rice.
“Fry the koftas for 2-3 minutes or until they started to turn golden brown.” We flipped them over after a few minutes, don’t touch them at first or they might break apart.
“Reduce the heat to low and fry for another few minutes until they are a deeper brown.”
“Soak the koftas in the hot sauce for 10 minutes before serving. This allows them to become plump and succulent.”
After ~10 minutes soaking in sauce:
“They are great on a bed of steaming hot rice or couscous as part of a main meal. They also work well as an accompaniment to other dishes.”
Honestly, these kofta are just ground up chickpeas, cabbage and cauliflower with a few spices…..yet they look and taste AMAZING!
We added some steamed spinach to add Vitamin Green :-)
Share with your friends, but save some for us! :-)
