Palak Kofta Curry

The word Kofta is a Persian word and basically is a meatball, i.e a ball made of minced meat. There are so many different variations of koftas as the dish is very flexible and one can adjust the ingredients and spices according to preference. A kofta can be grilled, baked, fried or roasted, the only important thing to be observed is that the meat is properly grinded to a smooth paste. Traditionally spices like nutmeg and/or cardamom were always added to koftas, but one can alter the spices and instead add onions, garlic, corriander, red chilli powder etc. A kofta is basically a round ball, but creativity comes out best in the kitchen when some shape it like a flat patty or elongated ones likes cigar on a skewer (Mostly served in Middle east).

In India, we commonly come across vegetable koftas but i have even seen some serving seafood koftas. To make the koftas a little more dense, sometimes rice, or wheat or maida or even besan is added. Whichever way, koftas taste absolutely great and make a perfect snack when served dry or a perfect meal when served as a curry with roti or rice. Here i wanted to go green, and hence made Spinach Koftas in spinach curry. To be honest, i had a lot of green gravy in the fridge that i had made and stored in an air-tight container. Normally i do this when i buy a lot of good quality greens in bulk (at absolutely cheap price) at the Sunday market. The gravy stays good for 3-4 days, so i just take it out, add tadka, and top it with paneer, corn or some kofta. You can even make these koftas in a makhni gravy or a simple tomato curry. The koftas are a little crisp from outside and super soft from inside. 

I have made these koftas in an Appe Tava instead of deep frying them, inspired from Jeyshree's kitchen who writes a beautiful blog. There was no change in the taste and infact the meal turned out much healthier. 

Ingredients:

For the koftas :

Palak - 1/2 cup

Potatoes - 2 large

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Corriander powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Besan (Chickpea flour) - 1 tbsp

For the curry (which i had already made earlier like a palak paneer gravy) : The measurements here are only for the Kofta recipe

Palak - 1 medium bunch

Green chillies - 2

Corriander leaves - 1/2 cup

Garlic - 3/4 chopped finely

Corriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - 1.2 tsp

Amchur powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Curd - 1 tbsp

Recipe:

Koftas:

Wash the palak and chop it well. Mix it with mashed potatoes and all the other spices as well as besan.

Make equal sized balls out of it. Flatten them just a little with your fingers.

Heat the "Appe" pan and brush a little oil in each hole.

Place the kofta balls inside each hole, and brush the top of the koftas with a little oil again.

Turn it on the other side and cook till both sides become golden brown.

Remove aside on a paper towel.

Gravy :

Wash the Palak well. Chop it roughly. Heat water in a vessel till boiling point and add 1 tsp salt. Add the Palak to it and switch off the flame. Cover the vessel and let it stand for 5 minutes or so. Drain and immediately hold the leaves under running cold water or put them in ice cubes. 

After blanching of Palak is done, remove water completely and grind the leaves in a mixer grinder to a smooth paste along with green chillies and corriander leaves.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. 

Add garlic and fry till it browns.

Then add the palak paste and fry for a couple of minutes. 

Now add all the dry spice powders, salt and mix well with the paste.

Add about 1/2 cup of water (Add more if required), and curd.

Keep stirring in between and let the gravy simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the koftas just before serving.

You can also add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice to the gravy instead of amchur powder, but skip adding curd then.

Green Kofta curry is ready :))

Happy Cooking ! :)

Bharli vaangi : Stuffed Brinjals

I wanted to post this recipe since a long time,it being one of my favourite dish. I never really used to like brinjals so much in childhood, but as i grew up, my taste buds became adventurous and i experimented a lot with food. Has it happened to you all that you didn't like any particular ingredient or dish as a child, and now you love it?

The famous two dishes of the vegetable in India are Bharta (Bharit as we call it in Marathi) and Bharli Vaangi (Bharwan Baingan or stuffed brinjals). Although majority of the brinjals are purple, there are also the green or white variety. Also known as aubergine or eggplant, brinjal is the common word in India. Having immense health benefits, the major one (and the one i should mention here for all my beautiful ladies reading this blog) is brinjal helps skin look younger as it has a good amount of antioxidants and vitamins. So there is no reason not to eat this vegetable right?

There are different methods of making Bharli vaangi... some stuff the masala inside the brinjals and saute it or even roast it. Some saute the masala and then stuff into brinjals and cook it covered. Some make the curry, and add roasted/cooked brinjals to it, but the one my mother makes is a little different. I like her version a lot, though at times i myself make the dry version too to give it in tiffin to hubby. But whenever i go home, i "demand" my mom to make this dish her way. And she makes it lip smacking!!!

So, the last time i visited her, i took some pics of the dish she had made ( took them in a hurry, as i was so hungry and slurrping that i didn't have the patience to click pics with the DSLR). So these pics are clicked with my I-phone and hence sorry for the image quality :) But guess you can make out, how tempting the curry is :)

Ingredients:

Brinjals - 8 medium sized ( my mother here has used green variety, but the purple variety tastes great too )

Red chilli powder - 1 tbsp ( adjust to taste )

Goda masala - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Onions - 4 

Garlic - 4-5 pods

Oil - 2-3 tbsp

Corriander leaves - to garnish

Cumin seeds -1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Asafoetida - a pinch

Peanut powder - 2 tbsp

Recipe:

Wash the brinjals thoroughly. Now remove the stem and cut slit the brinjal keeping the other end intact ( cut both horizontally and vertically).

Take some water in a bowl, add about 1/4 tsp salt to it. Now put the cut brinjals into water and keep aside.

Grate the onion ( Yes, that's her secret!!! ). Takes time and you might end up with loads of sneezes and tears, but trust me it's totally worth it !!! The grated onions give a nice thickness to the gravy.

Chop the garlic finely or you can even crush it.

Take oil in a kadhai/pan. This sabzi requires a little more oil, as it gives good taste and "tari" (a layer of oil) on top. Let the oil really heat up well.

Add mustard seeds, when they crackle, add asafoetida and cumin seeds. Now add the crushed/chopped garlic. Saute for about 30 seconds and immediately add the grated onions.

Saute for about a minute ( don't burn it ) on low flame and then add the turmeric powder,salt and red chilli powder. Mix it all well and let it cook till it starts leaving oil. 

Now add the cut brinjals and mix it, so that the brinjals coat with the masala. After about 1-2 minutes, add enough water so that the brinjals are immersed in it. Let it come to a boil on high flame, and then reduce to flame to low. 

Cook till brinjals are done. Now add the goda masala and peanut powder. Mix it well and add little more water (according to the consistency of the gravy needed). Adjust salt, and garnish with corriander leaves.

Traditionally we serve it with Bhaakri (roti made of jowar, bajra or rice powder), but it tastes great even with normal chapati or paratha.

Happy Cooking :)

Dudhaatla Dudhi : Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!!

Yes, my reaction was the same when i heard about Bottle Gourd cooked in milk !!! My father had talked very highly of this recipe made by my mom. But i didn't pay much attention to it, niether bothered to take the recipe from my mother...until a day, when i had bottle gourd in my fridge and didn't know what to cook !!! I decided to try this recipe with half of the bottle gourd, just in case me or my hubby don't like it. But Voila !!! It turned out super yummy and its so easy to cook too!

I just found out that Dudhi or Bottle gourd or Ghiya as it is commonly known as, is also called Calabash. The rounder varieties are called Calabash Gourds. This was grown not primarily for food, but was used as a water container. Interesting, isn't it??

Ingredients :

Milk - 1/2 cup ( you can even add cream and little milk if u like a creamy texture )

Bottle Gourd/ Dudhi - 1/2 of medium size ( comes around 1 cup when chopped )

Cloves - 2 to 3

Pepper corns ( Kaali miri ) - 5 to 6

Daalchini - 1 small piece

Bay leaf - 1

Dry red chillies - 3 to 4 ( Adjust according to taste )

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Corriander leaves - to garnish

Recipe :

Wash and peel the Dudhi. Chop them into small or medium cubes. ( smaller ones are easier to eat )

Heat ghee in a pan. Add the pepper, cloves, daalchini and bay leaf and fry for a minute on low flame.

Then add the Dudhi, red chillies and saltand fry for another minute.

Cover it with a lid.

When the Dudhi is half cooked, add the milk or cream. 

Keep the low flame and let it take its own time to cook. This way it takes all the flavours of the raw spices added. Keep stirring in between when the milk starts boiling. Add more milk if u want thinner consistency.

Remove from the flame after Dudhi is cooked and let is cool. To garnish, add chopped corriander leaves before serving.

Happy cooking :))