Lauki ka kofta

The word Kofta comes from Classical Persian kōfta (کوفته) meaning "rissole", from the verb

kōftan (کوفتن), "to pound" or "to grind", reflecting the ground meatuses for the meatballs. The languages of the region have adopted the word with minor phonetic variation. Kofta, A gastronomic delight that has transcended many borders and continents to reach India. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, kofta appears in some of the earliest Arabic cookbooks, they have likely travelled from Arab to Persia, Afghanistan to reach India in the east and along trade routes to Greece and Spain to reach Europe. Kofta originally was prepared from minced meat but as it crossed borders, the recipe absorbed many local flavours and spices. In Europe, it came to be known as meatballs with gravy, which is usually preferred with spaghetti in Italian cuisine. It can be assumed that in the East this recipe reached as far as China, where it took the name Manchurian, which is one of many varieties of kofta. In India, though kofta was prepared with minced meat too but to appeal to the food palette of the huge vegetarian population in India, the meat was replaced with vegetables and also dairy products like paneer.

Lauki ke kofte is a light tomato and onion based delicious curry with deep fried bottle gourd koftas dipped in it.

ingredients for kofta:

• 2 cups grated lauki (bottle gourd)
• 2 cloves garlic grated
• 1/2 inch ginger grated
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 1 green chilies finely chopped
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves
• 4 tbsp besan (gram flour)
• a pinch of asafoetida
• 1/4 tsp red chillies
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp amchur powder
• one pinch sodabicarb
• salt as per taste
• Oil to deep fry

to be ground into a paste:

• 2 medium sizes onions
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 1 green chilli

ingredients for gravy:

• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 dry red chillies
• 1 tsp zeera
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp amchur powder
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• a pinch of asafoetida
• tomato puree of 3 medium sized tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
• 2 tbsp cream
• 1 tbsp coriander leaves finely chopped
• salt according to taste

Method

(for making koftas)

1. Peel and grate the bottle gourd. Squeeze to remove excess water.
2. Take the squeezed lauki in a bowl and add rest of the ingredients mentioned for the kofta to it. Mix well and make it like a dough. It will be a little sticky but you can increase or decrease the besan as required.
3. Place oil in a wok to heat for deep frying the koftas.
4. Grease your hands with a little oil and make small balls of the prepared mixture.
5. Once the oil is hot drop these balls carefully in the oil. Fry the balls on medium heat so that they cook from inside as well. 
6. Once they a golden brown remove them from the oil and place them on a tissue paper so that excess oil is absorbed by it.

(preparing the paste)

1. Take all the mentioned ingredients in a mix jar and grind it into a paste.

(preparing the gravy)

1. Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Once the oil is hot, add the whole red chillies and zeera to it.
2. As the zeera starts to crackle add the prepared paste to the the pan with one pinch of asafoetida.
3. When the mixture starts to fry and turn into golden colour add the tomato puree, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, amchur powder and garam masala to it.
4. Keep frying the mixture on medium heat till it starts leaving oil from the sides.
5. Now add two cups of water (water can be adjusted according the consistency you want) to the masala. Let the gravy cook on medium flame for 5-10 minutes.
6. You can now add the koftas to the gravy along with the cream, sugar and salt.
7. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes without covering.
8. Your lauki ke kofte are ready. Garnish it with coriander and serve hot with chapati, naan or parathas. 😊 

Photo: Foram, 2014, November. foodviva.com. http://www.foodviva.com

Hope you children are enjoying your holidays, happy happy holidays!!😘😘