kofta, vegan style

I found and adapted a recipe for vegetarian kofta from here, substituting the mung beans with yellow split peas and tofu.



I have to say that I have always found vegan versions of non-vegan recipes bizarre, to say the least. But when one's love is committed to harming no living thing for the sake of their own appetite or comfort it's worth going a bit Linda McCartney on the kofta. I'm going to try making nut-roast next.

This is what I did:

to make the kofta you will need

0.75 cup dried yellow split peas; soaked and then cooked until soft
0.75 finely crumbled firm tofu
1 onion, diced
about half a teaspoon each ground cumin and ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander
half a teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
salt and pepper
2 carrots, grated and squeezed dry
1 tablespoon of flour

I cooked the split peas until they were soft and then mashed them up a bit. I cooked the onion until transparent in a little oil, then added the spices, waited for the aroma to rise before mixing the onion/spice mixture with the split peas, crumbled tofu, flour, salt and pepper, and carrots. It's important to squeeze the carrots dry once you have grated them otherwise the mixture will be too wet.

Then I made a 'ginger and coriander gravy'.

an onion, diced
a tomato, diced
fried gently in a little oil, with salt and pepper, 1/2 tsp Turmeric & a fresh green chili, finely chopped

to which I added, when nicely soft:
3 Brown cardamom pods
2 Cloves
1/4 tsp Black Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp Fennel Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Coriander Seeds
dry roasted and finely ground in a mortar

and then: 5-6 Inch Fresh Ginger and 2 Garlic Cloves (chopped finely)

...and, when it's all smelling nice, adding water to cover and about half a tin of coconut milk.

This was left to gently simmer while I rolled the kofta mix into ping-pong sized balls and placed them on trays lined with greaseproof paper. They were baked in a moderate oven (note: my oven tends toward hot) for about 20 minutes, and were turned once during cooking (you could, of course, fry them, which is the usual way).

The kofta was then added to the gravy and simmered for a further 20 minutes. I added fresh peas about 10 minutes in and fresh coriander leaves just before serving. Enough for four people, or two people twice, or for six people who aren't that hungry.

In retrospect, I would use silken tofu for the kofta next time, and try thickening the sauce with a paste of cashew nuts, omitting the coconut milk.