Muradabadi Kofta?!
On our last trip to India, we went to South India, and had a dish called Muradabadi Kofta. It was so good. Looked like Malai Kofta but tasted better than any Malai Kofta I've ever had. Now here's the catch. According to the menu, Muradabadi Kofta contains no garlic and no onion. I'm guessing it's because some Hindus and Jains don't eat garlic and onion. So how would they make a vegetarian kofta curry dish with no garlic and no onion so tasty? Any recipes or thoughts? I don't know what Muradabadi means...but I'd love to try to make a similar recipe.
Thanks!!
mari
Answers: Hi Everyone,
On our last trip to India, we went to South India, and had a dish called Muradabadi Kofta. It was so good. Looked like Malai Kofta but tasted better than any Malai Kofta I've ever had. Now here's the catch. According to the menu, Muradabadi Kofta contains no garlic and no onion. I'm guessing it's because some Hindus and Jains don't eat garlic and onion. So how would they make a vegetarian kofta curry dish with no garlic and no onion so tasty? Any recipes or thoughts? I don't know what Muradabadi means...but I'd love to try to make a similar recipe.
Thanks!!
mari
You may have eaten the dish in South India, but koftas are true North Indian dish! Anyway, here's the recipe:
MURADABADI KOFTA
Ingredients:
For the koftas:
2 cups boiled potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, sweet corn) boiled and mashed
1 cup paneer cubes
2 tbsps of double cream (heavy cream)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts and cashews)
1/4 raisins chopped fine
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil (or canola oil) to fry the koftas
For the curry sauce:
3 tbsps vegetable oil (or canola oil)
2 tomatoes quartered
1 tbsp ginger paste
2 tsps coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp poppy seeds lightly roasted and ground into a powder
3 tbsps nuts (cashews and almonds) ground into a thick paste
1 can good quality coconut milk
Salt to taste
2 tsps garam masala
freshly chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
PREPARATION:
Mash the potatoes, mixed vegetables, paneer and cream together. Add the kofta spices to this mash and mix well. The resulting dough should be firm. If not add some more boiled potato. Season with salt.
Make this dough into balls and put 1/2 a tsp of the nut and raisin mix in the center of each ball. Roll into perfect rounds.
Heat the oil kept aside to fry the koftas, on a medium flame. Deep fry these rounds till pale golden in colour. Drain on paper towels and keep aside.
For the curry:
Grind into a paste along with the tomatoes, ginger, coriander, cumin and red chilli powders. Put this paste into a pan (with 2 tbsp oil) and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala. Add the poppy seeds powder and nut paste and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
Add half the can of coconut milk at first and more if needed (the sauce for this dish is meant to be thick so do not add too much) to this masala to form the curry sauce. Mix well and season with salt to taste. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a low simmer.
Gently add the kofas to the curry and cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the garam masala all over the top of the dish. Cover immediately and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Garnish with lots of freshly chopped cilantro leaves.
Serve with hot naans and Basmati rice.