In my household, weekdays we usually try to eat vegetarian meals. First three days of the week are for veggies, Thursday for eggs or chickpea or any beans, Friday for fish or seafood and weekend for some indulgent food with meat. So, yesterday when I checked veggies in the fridge I found green cabbage sitting in there for quite a long time. Though I like stir fried cabbage, (which I usually cook on busy days)for its savory taste and crunchy texture, I thought I would give a try for cabbage dumplings/koftas as it was in my list of TBT (to-be-tried) recipe for a while now.  Its made with simple ingredients and came out very well. And I think, it is a good alternative for popular malai koftas (dumplings made with paneer/cottage cheese) or meat balls if you want vegetarian and less calorie option. I served it with jeera(cumin) rice but I think rotis would go great with it.

I adapted this recipe from www.tarladalal.com. The original recipe called for cottage cheese(paneer) along with grated cabbage and used chickpea flour to give binding.  I omitted paneer and added grated carrots and mashed potato to finely chopped cabbage. And I baked them in my muffin tin instead of frying them. The original one used tomatoes and pumpkin with whole spices for the gravy. I again omitted pumpkin and just increased onions to thicken and used powdered spices to give smooth gravy. I liked her idea of using cornstarch with low fat milk to thickening the gravy and used it in my version too. Check this recipe out and do give it a try to turn the boring cabbage to a delectable one.

Cabbage Kofta Curry

Servings:4

Ingredients:

For Koftas/Dumplings:

Cabbage: 2 cups,finely chopped/shredded

Carrots: 1 cup, grated

Potato: 1 medium size, boiled and mashed

Chickpea flour/Gram flour: 1/2 cup

Green Chilies: 2, chopped finely

Red Chili Powder: 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder: 1 tbsp

Cumin Powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1/4 tsp

Salt: 1 tsp

For Gravy:

Onion: 1 medium size, chopped

Tomatoes: 3 medium size, chopped

Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 tsp (Or use grated ginger and garlic)

Green Chilies: 1/2 tsp, chopped

Red Chili Powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder: 1/2 tsp

Coriander Powder: 2 tsp

Cumin Powder: 1 tsp

Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp (As per taste)

Salt: 1 tsp (As per taste)

Sugar/honey: 1/2 tsp

Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi): 1 tsp

Cornstarch powder: 1 tsp

Low Fat Milk: 1/2 tsp (I used 2%)

Oil: 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves: for garnish

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and position the rack at the bottom of the oven. Grease muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or oil it well with hand
2. In a small bowl add grated cabbage and carrots and 1/2 tsp of salt and set aside for 5 mins. Veggies will sweat and release water when salted
3. Meanwhile boil and mash potato (see notes below to boil potato in microwave)
4. Squeeze the water out of cabbage and carrot mixture by hand and transfer to another bowl. Add potato and all other spices in ingredients list and also remaining salt
5. Add gram flour and mix well to form a dough like ball
6. Divide into 12 small balls and line in greased muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins turning side halfway until brown and cooked
7. Meanwhile start gravy preparation. In a non-stick pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and add onions and saute for 5 mins until it caramelizes
8. Add ginger garlic paste and saute for a min until raw flavor goes off
9. Add salt, chili powder, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric and 1/4 cup of water (to prevent spices from burning)
10. Add chopped tomatoes and green chilies and cover cook until tomatoes turns mushy, 6-7 mins
11. Let it cool down and transfer to blender and blend to a smooth paste and add one cup of water
12. Transfer the smooth blend to the non-stick pan and bring to boil
13. Add garam masala, kasuri methi, sugar and cornstarch dissolved in milk (Carefully mix the cornstarch in milk and stir continuously to avoid lumps) and cook for a min. Check seasoning and adjust according to taste.
14. Transfer the koftas to serving plate and just before serving add the hot gravy on it (It will keep koftas crispy)
15. Garnish with coriander leaves and beaten yogurt

Notes:

1. You can even shallow/deep fry the dumplings or even steam it for 15 mins. Alternatively, you can microwave them brushing with oil and 5 mins on high.
2. To boil the potato, wet the paper towel and wrap it around the potato and microwave on high for 5-6 mins. Check if fully cooked otherwise repeat for 1 min
3. While adding kasuri methi, just crush them in your palms to give maximum flavor