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Havila te kofta and kofta sauce

Reza Mahammad from Great Food Live
These spicy vegetable balls from Reza Mahammad are served with a creamy aromatic sauce to make a classic Indian vegetarian dish

Havila te kofta and kofta sauce

Method

1. For the koftas: heat the oil in a heavy-based pan, add the mustard seeds and wait until they crackle.

2. Add the ginger and chopped green chillies, stir for a moment, then add the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt.

3. Add the courgettes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and corn and cook until they begin to soften. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

4. Grate the potato, mix it into the vegetables, and then add the chopped coriander and breadcrumbs.

5. Slit the remaining chillies down the middle and briefly fry them in a little vegetable oil.

6. Shape the vegetable mixture into koftas by flattening each one into a 6cm disc in the palm of your hand, lying a chilli across the middle of it with the stalk sticking out, then moulding it into a mini-aubergine shape. Dust them all over with cornflour.

7. Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer and cook the koftas for about 1-2 minutes until golden brown.

8. For the kofta sauce: puree the ginger and garlic in a food processor or pestle and mortar with 1 tablespoon water to make a smooth paste.

9. Melt the butter in a pan, add the onions, and sprinkle on a little salt to get the full impact of the flavour. Add the chillies to the pan, sprinkle lightly with salt and cook gently for 1 minute.

10. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat and let everything simmer until the tomatoes are soft. Blitz in a food processor.

11. Heat the oil in a medium pan, add the ginger and garlic paste, cook for 1 minute, add the tomato paste and the remaining spices and stir for 30 seconds. As you add the spices, sprinkle over a little water, to release the flavours. Add the tomato sauce and purée and simmer until thickened

12. Carefully place the koftas in the sauce and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

13. To serve: put the koftas on a heated serving dish. Stir the cream into the sauce and spoon over the koftas. Sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander.

Cook's Note's:
You can do all the preparation up until the deep frying in advance.

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Serves: 8

Prep: 40 min
Cook: 40 min

Ingredients

For the koftas

1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp black Mustard seeds
1x2.5 cm piece fresh ginger root, finely chopped
3 small green chilies
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
4 small courgettes, coarsely grated
4 small Carrots, coarsely grated
1 floret Cauliflower, grated
1 floret Broccoli, grated
50g fine green beans, shredded
50g baby corn, grated
50g cooked peeled potato
1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
8 whole small green chillies
25g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp cornflour
vegetable oil, for deep-frying

For the kofta sauce

1x2.5 cm piece fresh ginger root
4-5 garlic cloves
50g unsalted butter
2 medium Onions, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
750g Tomatoes, skinned, seeds removed, chopped and sprinkled with salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
1/2 tsp Punjabi masala
1/2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves, (kasuri methi)
1/2 tsp Chilli powder
50ml single cream