Vegan Malai Kofta (Indian veggie balls)
We are huge fans of Indian cuisine! Especially when it's cold outside, we crave for the butter rice, a beautiful mix of spices and a creamy sauce. But most of all, because we rarely have the opportunity to order most of the Indian classics in restaurants. So we try to make all the classic Indian dishes by ourselves. You already know our vegan "[Butter Chicken] (https://www.zuckerjagdwurst.com/en/recipes/vegan-butter-chicken-with-rice)" and "[Palak Paneer] (https://www.zuckerjagdwurst.com/en/recipes/vegan-palak-paneer)".
The Indian classic Malai Kofta has been missing in this series until today. The secret of this dish are deep-fried vegetable balls, which often contain Indian Paneer cheese and a creamy tomato cream sauce. We didn't use any replacement for the Paneer cheese and made the veggie balls with chickpeas, carrots, potatoes, and peas and only fried them (not deep-fried). And it worked out fantastic! Malai Kofta gets usually prepared for special occasions since the recipe is quite elaborate. So maybe this recipe is a good idea for your next cooking session on a weekend. We hope you like it as much as we do!
Vegan Malai Kofta (Indian veggie balls)
Ingredients
veggie balls
- 500 g (17.6 oz) soft-boiled potatoes
- 60 g (2.1 oz) carrots
- 80 g (2.8 oz) peas from the can
- 50 g (1.7 oz) chickpeas from the can
- 30 g (1 oz) cashew nuts
- 10 g (0.35 oz) cornstarch
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt
plant-based cream sauce
- 2 onions
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 40 g (1.4 oz) fresh ginger (weighed with peel)
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp agave syrup
- 750 ml (3 cups) sieved tomatoes
- 250 ml (1 cup) plant-based cream
- 25 g (0.9 oz) cashew nuts
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Indian rice
- 250 g (8.8 oz) basmati rice
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp of caraway seeds
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp salt
toppings
- 5 g (0.17 oz) fresh cilantro
- 1 lemon
- 50 g (1.7 oz) cashew nuts
Instructions
veggie balls
- Peel the potatoes, dice and cook in a saucepan with salted water. Then drain and mash.
- Peel and grate the carrots. Finely shred the cashew nuts in a blender or with a grater.
- In a large bowl, mash the potatoes, carrots, peas, and chickpeas. Add 25 g of the shredded cashews and the cornstarch.
- Form small veggie balls. Heat vegetable oil in a high frying pan and sauté the vegetable balls. Drain on a paper towel.
Indian rice
- Put 250 g of rice and twice the amount of salted water in a saucepan. Add the bay leaf, cumin, ground cardamom, ground anise, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 tablespoon of vegetable butter.
- Boil once, then reduce the temperature and let simmer with the lid closed until the water is completely absorbed. It takes up to 15 min. If the rice is still not done yet, you can add a little more water and let simmer some more minutes.
plant-based cream sauce
- Peel and dice onions, garlic cloves and ginger. Heat the high frying pan with some vegetable oil again and sauté the onions.
- Add garlic and ginger and sauté briefly.
- Now add all the spices for the sauce and wait another minute. Add agave syrup and let caramelize for one minute.
- Deglaze with the sieved tomatoes and let simmer for some minutes. Puree the sauce.
- Shred the remaining cashew nuts and add them with the plant-based cream. Season to taste.
- Now place the veggie balls in the pan with the sauce.
- Serve with the Indian rice, fresh lemon, and fresh cilantro.
