Cauliflower Kofta Curry
Cauliflower ke Koftae
Mamta Gupta
Koftas are one of those things that can be made from almost any vegetable. Here, I have made them with fresh cauliflower. You can serve them as a snack with Green Mango Chutney or Chilli Sauce, or any othere sauce that you fancy. Alternatively, you can add them to a Curry Sauce and serve with Chapatties or Tandoori Roties or Nan or Plain Parathas. They can also be served in a bread roll, with salad and spicy sauce of your choice.
These koftas freeze very well. I always make double the quantity I need, as half are eaten by everyone while I am frying them! The recipe looks very long but it is a relatively easy dish to make. This recipe makes approximately 20, but numbers can vary depending upon the size. You can make them round or sausage shaped or even burger shaped, if you want to serve them as vegeburgers.
Ingredients
For the Koftas
1 average, 500 gm. cauliflower
1 cup besan or gram flour* (see Notes). Plain flour* (maida) can be used instead and works well.
1 inch piece or 1 tsp. grated ginger
1 medium or 100 gm onion
1-3 green chillies. Adjust to taste.
2 tsp. ground coriander seeds
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp. Garam masala
Oil to deep fry
For the curry sauce (or use Basic Curry Sauce recipe)
1 onion peeled
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled
2-3 cloves of garlic (optional), peeled
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp. cumin seeds
2 medium tomatoes, chopped finely or 200 gm tinned tomatoes.
1 small pinch of asafoetida
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
1/4 tsp. chilli powder
Optional ingredients for the sauce**
1-2 bay leaves
4-6 cloves
5-6 whole black peppers
1-2 cm.piece of cinnamon stick or cassia bark
Instructions
Making Koftas ball:
Place cauliflower, onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies, cauliflower leaves and coriander leaves in a chopper and blitz until finely chopped (not pureed).
Add besan (gram flour) salt, garam masala, chilli powder. Mix well. The mix should be thick enough to make ball, but not too firm. Otherwise your koftas will be hard. It may need a couple of spoons of water. Add water very slowly, because cauliflower/onion mix usually has enough water to give you a binding consistency.
Heat oil in a wok or karahi to medium hot. If the oil is too hot, your koftas will burn on the outside and remain uncooked inside. If it is not hot enough, koftas will take long to cook and absorb too much oil. To test, roll one small kofta, using wetted or oiled hands and gently slide it into the hot oil. It should rise to the top sizzling and it should not break up. If it breaks up, add a little more besan to the rest of the mix. If the kofta mixture is a little runny to make into balls and you dont want to add anymore besan, pick roughly one tablespoon of the mix with a spoon and gently slide it off into the oil with a finger or another spoon.
I fry koftas in batches of 6-18, not too many at a time.
Turn over a few times gently and take out when brown on all sides.
Curry sauce
Peel and wash onions, ginger and garlic and grind together in a food processor or grate finely by hand.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds (and ingredients, if using**) and a pinch of asafoetida powder. Let the seeds splutter.
Add onion, ginger and garlic paste and fry until golden to dark brown (not burnt) and oil separates.
Add all powdered spices, except garam masala and stir for 10 seconds to release flavours.
Add tomatoes and stir fry until oil separates/shines at the edges.
Add 2 cups of water and boil briskly for 5 minutes or so.
Adjust salt and chillies to your own taste.
Stir in garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Keep until ready to serve.
Add koftas to the curry sauce only a few minutes before serving; heat the curry sauce and slide/drop in koftas gently. You don't need to stir, they break easily once soaked. I often place the koftas in the serving dish and pour te curry sauce on top. Then reheat quickly in a microwave oven, without stirring them.
Add coriander leaves as a garnish.
Serve with Chapatties or Tandoori Roti or Nan or Plain Paratha.
Notes
If you do not have besan/Bengal gram flour, use plain flour to bind the koftas together. The quantity of besan/flour will depend upon the water content of the Cauliflower used. If the grated Cauliflower looks too watery, squeeze some of the liquid out before adding besan/flour.