Cabbage Kofta Curry

It gives me enormous happiness in refering to my friend - R's visit again and again.. She gave me a great recipe of Cabbage Kofta curry. I could never believe this humble hostel vegetable could metamorphose into such a scrumptious party dish. After googling for some more information on the curry, I realised that there are umpteen variations to this dish. So, armed with the culinary wisdom R bequeathed me and some google-insights, I set out to make my own version of Cabbage Kofta Curry. This curry made out of cabbage balls, simmered in a rich thick gravy is a definite once-in-a-while indulgence!


Ingredients:


For the koftas:
Cabbage: 1/2 of a slightly big cabbage, chopped very fine
Green peas: fresh or frozen: 1/4 cup
Green chilli: 1, finely chopped
Shajeera or Jeera: 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1/2 tsp or to taste
Besan: About 1/2 of a cup (or more or less; since this is the binding agent which holds the koftas together)
Salt: to taste
Oil: to deepfry the koftas


For the gravy:
Onions (medium): 3
Tomatoes (large): 3
Garlic: 5 - 6 cloves
Ginger: 1/2 inch piece
Cashews: 7-8, soaked in warm water for half an hour
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1 tsp or to taste
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Salt: to taste
Oil: 2 tbsp
Corriander leaves, chopped: to garnish


For the tadka:
Cloves: 2
Cinnamon: 1 inch piece
Elaichi: 2
Bay leaf: 1
Jeera: 1/2 tsp


Method to make the koftas:

• Wash and clean the vegetable. Chop into very fine bits. Now, in a pressure cooker, steam the cabbage and the peas in an open vessel for about ten minutes
• Let the steam release. Cool the cabbage a bit, so that the skin on our fingers is not compromised
• Now, preferably using a clean cloth, (or, if a cloth is not found handy), atleast using your hands, squeeze all the water from the vegetable. Do NOT throw away the vegetable water. This can be conveniently poured into the gravy at later stages
• This step is very important because removal of all the excess water would mean that the koftas would be easy to make and difficult to break. If this step is not done, then, the whole kofta mixture would become soggy and would definitely not yield right results
• Now, add the shajeera, salt, chopped green chilli, red chilli powder, and the necessary besan and make koftas out of them
• Deepfry the koftas
• Now, we are done with one part of the dish

Method to make the gravy:

• Take a kadai
• Heat oil and make the tadka
• Now add the ginger-garlic-tomato-onion paste. Cover the kadai. Let it cook for about ten minutes on a slow flame. Just keep giving it an occasional stir.
• Add salt and all other masala powders. Again let it cook for about 5 - 6 minutes
• Once you feel it is done, add the cashewnut paste. Cook well again for about five minutes.
• Add necessary water whenever you feel. The gravy should not be too thick because, after introducing the koftas into the dish, the koftas would soak up all the available water and the curry would turn out very thick.
• After introducing the cashewnut paste, keep stirring because, this paste tends to stick to the bottom of the kadai
• When the gravy has cooked enough, introduce the koftas gently
• Keep the stove on a slow flame all the time, slowly toss the koftas around in the kadai. Do it gently so that the koftas do not break
• Once done, garnish with corriander leaves
• Done!
• Serve hot with roti or naan!