Cabbage Kofta Curry

It was one of the weekly potluck get-togethers with friends and I was trying to think of something fun to make and something that would not warrant a trip to the grocery store. The only vegetable I had at home was half a head of cabbage. Then I thought why not make cabbage koftas !
Here comes your recipe ..

Ingredients
Half a head of cabbage
Approximately half cup besan (chickpea flour)
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
3 finely chopped chillies
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dhaniya powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 onion finely diced
2 tablespoons yogurt (low fat is fine)
1 teaspoon oil for gravy
Oil for frying koftas

Procedure
1. If possible grate your cabbage head to get very fine shreds else do julienne (very thin) cuts. And then chop it to make the cabbage pieces very small.

2. Rub some salt into the cabbage and let it sit for a minute or two. Then squeeze the cabbage to rinse out the water from it.

3. Place the cabbage in a mixing bowl.

4. To that add the finely chopped chillies, coriander powder, ginger-garlic paste and 1 teaspoon garam masala.

5. Mix it well. Then add the besan. Your cabbage will still have some water in it so keep mixing without adding any excess water.

6. If you come to the point where you have mixed it and the mixture is still a bit dry then add water 1 tablespoon at a time. We want the dough at a consistency where we can easily roll out kofta balls.

7. Now leave the dough untouched for about 30 minutes.

8. After 30 minutes roll the dough into koftas

9. Heat some oil for frying. Dont make the oil smoking hot. We want the koftas to cook evenly from inside so medium heat is good.

10. First drop one kofta into the oil to see how it fares. If it turns brown immediately that means the oil is too hot. In such a situation the outside of your kofta will get cooked very fast and the inside will still be moist. We dont want that. So reduce the heat and let the oil cool down a bit.

11. Now start adding the rest of the koftas slowly. Dont try to move them around right after you drop them in the oil. Let them stay there for about 2 minutes and then move them around a bit so all sides get cooked evenly. Look for a golden brown color. This may take about 4-5 minutes.
(Tip : One trick to make sure your koftas dont fall apart in the oil : Before you put them in the oil roll them in a little bit of dry besan. Make sure it is not so much besan that they look all powdery.)

12. Once the koftas have been fried, place them on a paper towel in plate to drain out the excess oil.

13. For the gravy heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pot

14. Add the finely chopped onions to it

15. Roast the onions till they are golden brown

16. Then add 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon red chilli powder and mix it well

17. Now add 2 tablespoons of yogurt to this mix and let it cook for about a minute. Once the mixture starts leaving out oil you know the yogurt has done its job.

18. Add about 1/2 cup of water to the masala above and let it come to a boil and start thickening.

19. Add salt as per taste.

20. Now drop the koftas into the gravy and let them sit there for about 4-5 minutes.

Turn off the heat , grab yourself a plate and enjoy the fruit of your hard work !! :)