Cabbage Kofta

You must have come across many varieties of Koftas prepared all over India, they can be the raw banana koftas, paneer koftas, lauki (bottle gourd) koftas, to name a few. Koftas are basically round shaped deep fried vegetable balls/ dumplings. The vegetable balls are cooked in a spicy gravy of tomato puree and cashew nuts. The most popular is the paneer kofta or malai kofta which is normally prepared on special occasions and festivals. Kofta Curry is a tomato based spicy masala paste gravy, usually served with parathas, chapatis, fried rice or plain steamed rice.

Here I've given a little twist to my recipe, instead of making the traditional koftas with the common vegetable ingredients which are been usually used, I've preferred using Cabbage in my recipe and I've also shuffled using the cashew nuts with Almonds for my recipe. There's a reason for using the almonds instead of cashew nuts because I love to eat cashews just like that (raw) when I come across and I happen to finish all of it before the preparation for the kofta curry. Raw cashews are much healthier and tastier, and eating more of raw things is useful for our health. So whenever you visit my place, I may treat you with almonds, keeping cashews in store for me. Jokes apart, even almonds give a thick creamy flavor to the recipe and altering it with cashews is a good option. Just note to soak the almonds in a bowl of warm water one hour before the preparation, because soaking in warm water helps in removal of its skin easily and also the almonds don't get harder.

Koftas are generally vegetarian recipes in which we do not add onions or garlic. However, in few recipes onions are added for that extra flavor in the recipe.

Tips: Before heading onto the procedure for the Cabbage Kofta recipe, here are few tips that we need to keep in mind;

1. Do not soak the cabbage in water, as the leaves will absorb water and it will start leaving water while frying the koftas.
2. After chopping the cabbage, put a pinch of salt and mix. Allow it to rest for two minutes and then squeeze the cabbage within your fist to remove excess water.
3. Do not leave the cabbage mixed batter for a long time. As soon as you mix all the ingredients, fry the koftas immediately. (as I got busy taking a photograph for the kofta just before frying, you notice, it had started getting little bit watery).

[Veg]

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Course: Side

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Measuring Items: 1 cup = 250 ml; Teaspoon

Ingredients:

1. Cabbage- 1 whole (small sized)
2. Green chili- 10
3. Ginger- 2 inch
4. Tomato- 4
5. Almonds- 1/2 cup
6. Onion- 2 (optional)
7. Coriander leaves- a handful

Spices:

1. Besan (Gram Flour)- 1 cup
2. Coriander powder- 3 Tsp
3. Salt- (as per taste)
4. Hing (asafoetida)- a pinch
5. Cumin seeds (jeera)- 1 Tsp
6. Red Mirchi powder- 2 Tsp
7. Turmeric powder- 1 Tsp
8. Garam masala- 1 tsp
9. Refined oil- (for frying)

Method:

For the Koftas:

1. Cabbage- finely chopped
2. Green chili- 6
3. Ginger- an inch
4. Gram flour- 1 cup (or adjust to the amount of cabbage to make it a thick batter)
5. Coriander powder- 2 Tsp
6. Salt (for taste)

How to prepare ‘Cabbage Kofta’ with step by step pictures and instructions-

1. Wash the cabbage properly with water and finely chop them into very small pieces.
   
2. Take a large mixing bowl, place all the ingredients for the Koftas and mix them well.
   
3. Make small balls for the koftas. Meanwhile, heat oil in a deep frying pan or kadhai.
   
4. Once the oil is fumy hot, slide in the koftas one after the other into the kadhai. Fry the koftas (keeping in medium to high flame).
   
5. Continue frying all the koftas. In the meantime, chop the other given ingredients (tomatoes, onion, ginger, green chili, and almonds), blend them all together to make a smooth paste.
   
6. Keep the fried koftas aside.
   

For Curry: Oil remains in the pan after frying the Koftas, hence continue cooking in that hot oil for the curry.

1. Add Cumin seeds, sliced onions, hing for seasoning. Then pour in the blended paste slowly.
    
2. Now add salt, red Mirchi, turmeric, and coriander powder. Saute for 2 minutes.
3. 
4. Once it starts to leave oil, add 1.5 cup of water, bring to a boil, put the koftas and garam masala. Simmer for 2 minutes.
   
5. Finally, add a handful of chopped coriander leaves and switch off the flame.
   

Quite a number of points to follow for the delicious and creamy Cabbage Kofta recipe, but once done it feels great to have prepared this restaurant-style favorite curry at your home because home-cooked meals are always the best and give immense satisfaction after its preparation. Cabbage Kofta recipe is a simple way to prepare the grand kofta recipe and is ready to be served along with hot steamed rice or rotis. Prepare this mouth-watering kofta curry at your home and enjoy these deep fried vegetable koftas into a creamy, rich, delicious gravy garnished with coriander leaves. It is ideal for a party or a special treat at your home.

Paromita Pramanick ©2018. All Rights Reserved.