Koftas are fried dumplings in a variety of spicy sauces. The dumplings can be made using different vegetables and some popular ones are cabbage, laucki (bottle gourd), zucchini, or a potato. This particular recipe uses cabbage and serves 4-6.
For Koftas:
2 cup shredded cabbage
3/4 cup flour (or more as needed)
1/2 t ground cumin seed
2 t chopped fresh cilantro
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 chopped green chili
1 teaspoon salt
Oil to fry
Sauce:
3 medium tomatoes
1/2 inch grated ginger
1 green chili finely chopped
2 T yogurt
2 T oil
Pinch of Garlic Powder
1 t ground cumin
1 T flour
1/2 t Turmeric (or 1 t freshly grated Turmeric)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon sugar
To prepare:
Mix together all the kofta ingredients. Adjust flour as needed to make a texture of very soft dough. Note: make this mix just before you are ready to fry the kofta otherwise it will become watery. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat.
The frying pan should have at least 1½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, just put one small piece of the mix in the oil, it should sizzle and come up right away. Slowly drop about 1 tablespoon of the dumpling mixture into the frying pan one at a time. Fry the koftas in small batches, avoid crowding the frying pan. Turn the koftas occasionally. Fry the koftas until they turn golden-brown all around.
Sauce:
Blend the tomatoes, green chilies and ginger to make a puree. If you prefer a milder version, take the seeds out of the green chili before blending. Add the garlic, cumin and flour, mix well in a saucepan. Add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, and cook on medium heat until the sauce reduces to about half in quantity.
Next add yogurt and cook for another minute. Add about 1 cup water and the salt. As it comes to boil reduce the heat to medium-low and let the gravy cook for few minutes.
Note: adjust the thickness of the gravy to your taste by adjusting the water. Add the prepared koftas and let it simmer for another 7 to 8 minutes. Turn off the heat add the cilantro and cover until serving with rice.
