Ingredients:
• Ingredients for kofta:
• 500 g lauki, peeled and grated
• 2 tbsp – besan / gram flour
• 2-3 – Green chillies
• A little grated Ginger
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp – Red Chilli powder
• A few finely chopped Coriander leaves
• Ingredients for gravy:
• 2 – medium sized onions, finely chopped
• 3 – medium sized tomatoes, grated / puree
• 2 – Green chillies
• A little grated Ginger
• 2-3 flakes – Garlic
• A few chopped Coriander leaves
• salt to taste
• 1 tsp – Red Chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp – Turmeric powder
• 2 tsp – coriander powder
• 1 tsp – Jeera powder
• 1 tsp – Garam Masala
• 2 sticks – Dalchini / Cinnamon
• 3-4 – Bay Leaves / tej patta
• 1 – big Cardamom / badi elaichi crushed
• 3-4 – Cloves
• oil for frying and cooking
• water that is extracted from Lauki and kept aside
Method:
- Grate the lauki and squeeze out water from it completely. Store the water in a bowl separately.
- To this grated lauki, add grated ginger, chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, salt and red chilli powder and mix well.
- Now add besan to bind and make round or oval balls. (You can apply oil to your palm before making balls to avoid koftas sticking to your hands.)
- Deep fry the koftas to a golden brown colour.
- Method For Gravy:
- Heat 3-4 tbsps of oil in a heavy bottom vessel.
- Put dalchini, crushed elaichi, tej patta and cloves and let it splutter in oil, then add green chillies, garlic, ginger and onions and cover the vessel for a few minutes on medium flame.
- Keep stirring in between and cook till onions turn brown in colour and get blended well.
- Now add tomatoes, salt, turmeric, red chilli, jeera and coriander powders and mix well.
- Cover the vessel again.
- Keep stirring at intervals and check if the gravy is even and well blended.
- You can add the extracted water from lauki now and let the gravy boil.
- Sprinkle garam masala.
- Before serving, add the koftas and garnish with coriander leaves.
Recipe courtesy of Arti Advani