Shannon from Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia wrote:
“I crave Kofta! The Hare Krishnas served delicious kofta at a rock concert recently in Qld. I can’t get the taste out of my head. Help! Do you have a recipe to share, Kurma?”
Kurma replied:
“Yes, I can help. Here’s my recipe.
Shannon from Fortitude Valley, Queensland, Australia wrote:
“I crave Kofta! The Hare Krishnas served delicious kofta at a rock concert recently in Qld. I can’t get the taste out of my head. Help! Do you have a recipe to share, Kurma?”
Kurma replied:
“Yes, I can help. Here’s my recipe. Happy cooking and eating!”
Rolling kofta at a Kurma cooking class, Belgium.
Succulent Mixed Vegetable Balls in Herbed Tomato Sauce (Kofta)
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 are the most popular. My favourite kofta are made from a mixture of cauliflower and cabbage and served on a bed of steaming hot rice, or as illustrated, couscous. Try these succulent delights either as part of a main meal or as an accompanying savoury. Makes 24 koftas.
Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil,
2 bay leaves,
½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder,
4 cups tomato puree,
1 teaspoon dried basil,
2 teaspoons salt,
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper,
1½ teaspoons sugar.
Koftas
2 cups grated cauliflower,
2 cups grated cabbage,
1½ cups chickpea flour,
½ teaspoon yellow asafetida powder,
1 teaspoon ground cumin,
1½ teaspoon salt,
1 teaspoon garam masala,
½ teaspoon cayenne,
oil for deep frying.
The sauce:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over moderate heat. When hot, drop in the bay leaves and saute for 1 minute or until fragrant. Sprinkle in the yellow asafetida powder, and fry momentarily.
Stir in the tomato puree and basil. Raise the heat, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until a little reduced. Add in the salt, pepper and sugar, remove from the heat and keep warm.
The koftas:
Combine all the kofta ingredients in a bowl until well mixed. Do not add water! The mix should be dry and the balls tight. Do not leave the mixture to sit, but roll the mixture into approximately 24 balls. Heat the oil for deep-frying in a wok or deep pan over fairly high heat to about 180° C / 350° F. Carefully lower in half the balls. Do not stir until they change colour and float.
Fry the koftas for 2 or 3 minutes or until they rise to the surface and start to colour.
Reduce the heat to low, and fry for another 8-10 minutes, or until they are a deep reddish brown.
Remove and drain on paper towels. Increase the oil temperature to its original temperature, and repeat the frying procedure for the remaining batch of koftas.
Serve: soak the koftas in the hot sauce 10 minutes before serving time to allow them to fully soak and become plump and succulent.