Sweet Potato Kofta

Kofta has always been a No No anytime I’ve been to a restaurant because the only kind you get is the “malai” koftas, meaning – cream koftas – They are heavy, lumpy and doughy and even in the very best restaurants are either over soaked and soggy, melting into the sauce OR you have the kinds that never soak and are hard and tasteless that stand alone, unrelenting.  And then over the past year that I’ve been blogging, I have seen some memorable koftas that have inspired me to come up with this one.

Definition of Kofta from the Oxford Dictionary

noun (plural same or koftas)

•   (in Middle Eastern and Indian cooking) a spiced meatball.

Origin:

From Urdu and Persian, literally 'pounded meat'

Look how far we have come from its actual meaning if we have wholly adapted this dish to a vegetarian palate

To the best of my knowledge these are deep-fried and soaked into hot sauce/gravy

So the kofta served by itself, is rather like a cutlet, along with a pita, a falafel and served with gravy the kofta curry we know so well to be an Indian gourmet dish.

Things that I like about my kofta

1)    I used a healthy substitute to the usual potatoes by using sweet potatoes

2)    I liked using Garbanzos for a fiber and low fat factor

3)    I did NOT deep fry it and that did NOT compromise on the taste an iota

4)    My gravy was just as healthy in that I used my standard gravy companions onion and tomato with chilies and some spices – adding NO cream whatsoever getting that creamy texture by cooking the veggies first and adding no more than 10 -12 pieces of cashews. The end result was immensely pleasing and I felt mighty triumphant that I had made this dish – finally – in my home and realized how cinchy it is to make it.

Bu But it would be remiss of me to not give credit to my new dippy pan that has inspired me to make several wonderful preparations.

I encourage you to try this combo at home and see for yourself how incredibly tasty these come out.

Off to the recipe

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Ingredients

3 sweet potatoes

1 can of garbanzo beans

Green chilies – to taste

1 Red chili

Cilantro – 1tbs crushed

Sage- 2 leaves

About 1tsp of oil

Mustard seeds (optional)

Cumin seeds (optional)

2 tsp of curry powder

Preparation

Cook and mush the sweet potatoes

In a food processor, add washed and drained garbanzos and make a crumbly powder

In a pan, heat the oil and splutter mustard and cumin seeds

Add the chilies, herbs and the curry powder to the oil followed by the potatoes

Add the crumbled garbanzo

Add the salt and mix all the ingredients well

This mixture should be soft but thick now

Get the pan ready by placing it on low heat

Add some nonstick spray to the holes and ½ tsp of oil in each slot

I used an ice cream scoop to dole out the mix into the holes

Let the one side brown and gingerly flip over and brown the other side as well

Wait for it to get well cooked on both sides before removing from the slots

You can serve this as stand alone patties or cutlet dish with some raw onions and ketchup

You can use it as a Falafel and stuff into a pita and sink your teeth in verily

Or you can make kofta &curry with it, which was my original intent

For the sauce, simple sauté 1 big red onion and 1 can of diced tomato with required amount of spices (clove, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, red chilies, garlic (optional) and about 10 cahsews.

Let it simmer and cool before grinding

Pour the sauce in the desired serving bowl and then arrange the koftas in the sauce.

Serve with naan or rotis

Now Serving with love (: