Baked Veggie Kofta in Palak Gravy

I love koftas and I order it every time we at an Indian Restaurant. I tried baked beans kofta curry some time ago and it came out very well...since then I have been tempted to make veggie koftas too.
I try to avoid frying as much as possible ...its also out of lazyness ... I love anything that involves baking since you do not have to stand next to the stove - pop it in the oven and get it done. One more thing you can indulge in these things guilt free .... It tasted yummy!

Ingredients:

For the Koftas

4 Medium size Potatoes
2 Carrots
1 Capsicum
(Any other veggies of your choice)
1/2 Cup Crushed Paneer
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1 Tsp Jeera Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
Mint leaves
Cashews

Gravy

2 Bunches Spinach (thorougly washed)
4 Tomatoes chopped
1 Medium Onion chopped
1 Green chilly
1 inch piece ginger
1 Tsp Jeera
1 Pieces Elaichi
2 Cloves
1 Tsp Garam Masala
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder (the one I use is very spicy hence I use only half a teaspoon)
1 Tsp Coriander Powder
1 Tsp Salt
Oil
Jeera

Method:

1. Boil the veggies and add the other ingredients to it. Mix it well. Take a tray (or pan) which is oven safe. Line it with aluminium foil. Make the koftas and place them on the sheet. Drizzle oil over it.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 375 deg F. Pop the koftas into the oven. After 25 minutes (or when the bottom turns brown) turn them over for another 15 minutes.
3. Cook the spinach in pressure cooker. Turn off the gas when the steam comes (do not put the weight). Allow it to cool. Drain the water from the spinach and reserve the water. You can add it if the gravy gets very thick.
4. Grind the tomatoes, onion, green chilly, jeera, cloves, elaichi along with the spinach.
5. Heat oil in a pan (use flat bottomed pans while making koftas). Add the jeera and let it splutter.
6. Add the puree.  If the puree is too thick add the water that has been reserved from cooking the spinach.
7. Add garam masala, red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and the salt.
8. Allow it to boil.
9. Add the koftas and simmer it for 5 minutes.
10. Turn off the stove.
11. Yummy koftas in palak gravy is ready to be served ...goes well with rice or rotis.
Enjoy!

(I did not get good set of photos this time ...will try to get better ones when I make them next time)

Stuffed Mini Sweet Pepper

I am so happy that I have posted 50 recipes...even though I liked the generic 50th post....felt did not do much justice to it since it was not made by me :( ....so I wanted to post something different...and marched into the kitchen with a big smile in my face (to make something new....it always makes me happy)!!....I had very little things in my refrigerator since I am having another trip this weekend (will tell you about it after I come back!!)....so had not stocked up the refrigerator to its brim (it was seemingly empty compared to how much it always stores)

I had got the mini sweet peppers to make bajjis...but did not find time to make pakoras with it this time too...I had both the giant bell peppers (call it this way because back in India...so do not get to see these big ones). Just think about stuffing this giant pepper...I felt it will need atleast 3 big potatoes to stuff one !! So choose the mini sweet peppers ....I like the texture, the firmness and the color of them....they are teeny tiny petite ones....and these will not need as many potatoes as the giant bell pepper would and also makes serving easier!!

I take them and cut their head off and take the seeds out....a pairing knife comes in handy to do this and be carefull not to cut them in the middle. I used the whole bad around 2 Lbs of the mini sweet pepper I got from Sams!!



Now coming to the ingredients and the recipe part -

2 Lbs (reserved like 10 of them from the bag for another experiment) and wash, cut the head part and de-seeded the rest
1/2 finely Chopped Onion
4 medium sized tomatoes
1/2 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 Tsp Red chilly Powder
1 Tsp Salt
2 TBSPN Olive Oil

For the filling

3 Medium Potatoes
1/2 Finely Chopped Onion
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Coriander powder
1/2 Tsp Red Chilly Powder
1/2 Inch Ginger Finely chopped
1 Green Chilly
1/2 Tsp Jeera
1 TBSP Oil

Coming to the stuffing part - Microwave the potatoes as a whole for about 8 minutes. Remove them from the water after microwaving them as you do not want them soaking and absorbing the water. Mash them well you do not want any chunky parts in it.

Take oil in a pan and add the jeera, green chillies and the ginger. Add the onion and fry them till they are slightly brown, Add the salt, red chilly powder and the coriander powder. Add the mashed potatoes and mix it well. The stuffing is ready to be filled into the sweet pepper.

Before that....I forgot to mention that I baked them in the oven....So before you start filling pre-heat the oven upto 350 degree. Make small balls and start filling them with your hand. I feel it works better when you fill them with your hands rather than with a spoon. If you are scared that the filling my spill...you may close it with a paste made from all purpose flour and then bake it.

Now place them in the baking tray and sprinkle some salt and drizzle some oil on top of each pepper for about 30 minutes...the smell when it is baked is so goooddddddd...........

You may serve them as is after baking them....but what I did was took little bit of oil in a pan. Added Jeera and onions. Fry them then add the tomatoes till they are done. Add the sweet peppers slowly and make sure the filling does not fall out. Add more salt if needed.

I served it with rotis......was pretty happy about the way it turned out...happily posting this recipe..I am posting this with a big smile on my face "the 51st one"...with your wishes and patronage looking forward to doing more.....see you soon with another post ...bye bye

Malai Kofta

I wanted to make malai kofta and have been thinking about it for a long time. I once made it ..if my memories serve me right.... I made it at my perima's house soon after I graduated....it seems sooooooo long as though in my previous birth. But at that time I was not sure how it had to be made and it was a flop show although everyone managed to eat it without telling me that it was not all that great! They were just being polite at not telling me as to how bad it was....!!

I always order this whenever I go to the restaurant. I love this...this time it turned out great....I will be making it again sooonnnnn...............

During my shopping saga last week end...I got all the veggies needed for making the kofta curry.

Things needed the Koftas:

2 Large Potatoes

2 Carrots

10 strands of Beans

1 Cup Tofu

All purpse flour

1/2 tsp fennel powder

1/2 tsp Red Chilly Powder

1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
Chopped nuts 1/2 Cup
Oil for frying the koftas

For the Gravy:

1 Tsp Zeera
 Inch piece cinnamon stick

1 Bay Leaf

1 Green Chilly

1 Tsp Ginger cut finely
1/2 tsp Red Chilly Powder
1/2 Tsp Coriander Powder
1/2 Tsp Cumin Powder
1 cup onion cut finely
5 Tomatoes
10 Whole Cashews
1 TBSP Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Cream
Salt
 
I always use microwave for boiling the veggies. You may do that the way you are comfortable with.

Microwave the Potatoes without cutting them (the whole ones).

Cut the carrots and beans to small cubes and also microwave them but make sure they are not tender and take it when they are three-fourths done. Drain the water completely. You may use a clean kitchen towel to take the excess water from the veggies. Reserve the water from the veggies for adding it to the gravy.

Mash the potatoes and add the chopped nuts (you generally find the nuts in the koftas you are order in the restaurants....they give a nice crunchy taste to the koftas!), carrots and beans without any water. Add the tofu by making it into fine crumbs. I am using tofu (you can resort to panneer not necessarily stick with tofu). As mentioned in my previous posts I am substituting tofu for panneer as much as possible in my cooking.

Add all the spices to the veggie mix and add salt. I am avoiding adding green chillies to the veggie mix since my son is too small and I do not want him to accidentally bite the chiilies in the veggies. You may add it if you want. Instead, I am using the green chillies in the gravy.

If you feel the veggies are kind of soggy do not worry just toss in  bread crumbs and this will take care of the extra moisture in the veggies (but do not toss them on tava adding bread crumbs is a better option).

Now the koftas are ready to be rolled out as balls. You may shape it the way you want it and coat it well with the all purpose flour before frying them in oil. Fry the koftas and keep them aside. I got some 12 koftas with these.

Now coming to the gravy - Take some olive oil or any other oil you use and temper it with zeera (after it splutters), bay leaf, cinnamon and add the ginger and green chillies. Add the onions and saute till it is light brown.

Add the tomatoes and cook it. You may add the water which you reserved it while squeezing the veggies.

Add the spices mentioned above in the ingredients needed for the gravy. Also add the salt.

Run the cashews in the blender and add it to the gravy (you may make a paste and add it to...I leave it to your preference) Make sure you have enough gravy while making this dish...otherwise the koftas absorb all of them!! Add the cashew powder and allow it to boil.

Now add the cream and boil for few more minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the cinnamon stick before adding the koftas.

Take extra care while adding the koftas to the gravy and do not keep mixing it after adding them ...otherwise it will break. Some people suggest adding the koftas just before serving. They tell you to heat them separately and add the koftas to the gravy before serving....but I feel this way the koftas do not get the taste of the gravy. I want my koftas nicely soaked in the gravy and get the taste from the gravy too...hence transfer the gravy to the serving dish and arrange the koftas in them. Incase you are worried that the koftas will absorb the gravy in entirety,,,,make a little extra gravy and reserve it. You may add the extra gravy just before serving....

Serve this yummy malai kofta with roti/nan or ghee rice...........