One challenge that most parents face is making their children eat vegetables, especially lauki and kaddu. On the contrary, children love eating food from outside and malai kofta is usually a favourite item on the menu. So through this blog, we aim to help you make mouth-watering creamy malai kofta at home with a twist of using lots of veggies (lauki, kadu, carrot and potato). Not only will it be healthier than what we order from outside, but will be much more tasty. So here is the recipe.
Ingredients:
For kofta:
½ katori diced potato
½ katori diced lauki (bottle gourd)
½ katori diced kaddu (pumpkin)
½ katori diced carrot
½ katori water
½ katori besan
½ tsp ajwain
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp salt
A pinch of hing
1 medium green chilli
Handful of coriander leaves
Oil for frying koftas
For the gravy:
2 medium size onions
4 medium size tomato
4-5 garlic cloves
½ inch piece of ginger
2 medium size green chillies
¼ tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
2 tsp of coriander (dhaniya) powder
½ tsp of deggi mirch/ kashmiri red chilli powder
1.5 tsp salt (salt can be adjusted as per taste)
1 inch cinnamon (dalchini)
1medium size bay leaf
4 cardamoms (elaichi)
1 tsp of cumin (jeera) seeds
1 tbsp of kasuri methi
1 tsp of brown sugar/honey
½ cup of milk
1 tbsp of oil
For gravy dressing:
1 tbsp of butter
1 tbsp of malai/cream
1 tsp of kasuri methi
Handful of finely chopped coriander leaves
Serving: 4
Calorific Value (per serving):
Energy: 217 kcal
Protein: 3 gm
Carbs: 12 gm
Fats: 17.5 gm
Fibre: 4.25 gm
Method:
Step to make kofta:
1. In a pressure cooker, put diced potato, lauki, kaadu and carrot. Add salt and ½
katori water and close the lid. Pressure cook vegetables on medium flame.
2. After 2 whistles, turn off the stove and let pressure cooker rest to allow the
vegetables to get steamed. Once the steam is out, open the lid and strain the
vegetables so that any excess water is removed. Do not throw this water as it can
be used as vegetable stock in your gravies or soups.
3. Transfer vegetables on a plate or paraat and let them rest for 5 minute so that
they cool down.
4. To this mixture add besan, ajwain, turmeric powder, hing, green chilli, salt and
finely chopped coriander leaves.
5. Mix everything together so that you get a mixture of thick consistency. Basically,
you should be able to easily pick up the mixture with your hand or with the help
of spoon and drop in oil for frying.
6. Now heat oil in a kadai. Once oil is heated, scoop small balls from the mixture
with your hands or with the help of spoon, and drop them in the oil for deep
frying. Fry these koftas from both side till they turn golden brown.
7. Transfer these koftas on plate covered with tissue paper so that excess oil gets
absorbed.
Steps to make the gravy:
1. Heat oil in a pan on a medium flame and once heated add cumin seeds, bay leaf,
cardamom and cinnamon. Sauté these spices for few seconds and now add
ginger, garlic, and green chilli. Again, sauté this mixture for few seconds. Now add
diced onions in this mixture and sauté them till onion turns translucent.
2. Add diced tomatoes and sauté them for a minute.
3. Now add your spices which include deggi mirch powder, turmeric powder,
coriander powder, kasuri methi and salt. Sauté all spices so they blend well in the
gravy.
4. Add honey/sugar, cashews and milk to the mixture. Mix everything together and
cover your pan with the lid. At this stage, let vegetables cook slowly in the milk
and water from tomatoes for half an hour so that your gravy gets a nice flavour
from the combination of all spices used. Keep checking your gravy in between to
ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Now turn off the stove and let this gravy rest for 10 minutes so that it cools down
completely.
6. Once this gravy cools down, remove bay leaf and grind this gravy in a grinder to a
smooth paste.
7. Pass this smooth paste through a sieve so that any coarse materials gets
separated.
For gravy dressing:
1. Heat a pan on a medium flame and put a dash of butter/ghee. When butter melts
add the gravy paste to the pan and bring it a nice boil.
[Note: For a nice colour and little extra spice, add ½ tsp of deggi mirch in the
butter when it is heated up and then add the gravy.]
2. Add cream/malai to the gravy and sprinkle a tsp of kasturi methi over the gravy.
Give it a stir and your gravy is ready to serve.
To serve, put two koftas in a bowl and pour gravy over it. Garnish this with few finely chopped corianders leaves.
Your Veggie Malai Kofta is ready to eat!
Health benefits of Vegetables
Vegetables are low in calories and excellent source of various essential vitamins and minerals. They contain nutrients such as potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, folates (folic acid), and provide dietary fibres.
Carrots are packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and potassium. They contain beta-carotene, an antioxidant that gives carrots their vibrant orange colour and could help in cancer prevention.
Lauki is a vegetable high on water and is a rich source of vitamin C, vitamin K and calcium. It helps in maintaining a healthy heart and brings down bad cholesterol levels. It is also used for weight loss because it is low in calories and is packed with fibre, which helps in keeping you full for longer.
Kaddu is a rich source of beta carotene which gets converted into vitamin A in our body. Vitamin A is important for normal vision, immune system and reproduction. Vitamin A also helps the heart, lungs, kidneys, and other organs work properly. Eating pumpkin is good for the heart. The fibre, potassium, and vitamin C content in pumpkin all support heart health.
Thus, including lot of vegetables in your daily meals will help in fighting you against various diseases and reduce chances of various non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cancer.