Tofu – Lentil Kofta in Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
For the Kofta
- 200 g tofu, crumbled
- 100 g green gram (mung lentils)
- 1 potato, unpeeled and cubed
- 1 onion, chopped small
- 10 g ginger
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 green chilli, minced
- ¼ tsp cumin (jeera) powder
- A few sprigs of fresh coriander, chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Unrefined salt to taste
For the Gravy
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 1 kg tomato
- 30 g cashew nuts
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 15 g ginger, sliced
- 100 g sesame seeds (til)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp coriander (dhania) powder
- ¼ tsp powdered dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
- Unrefined salt to taste
- A few sprigs of fresh coriander, chopped
Method
For the Kofta
Steam the potatoes, mash them and keep aside. Cook the lentils in a little water, mash to a thick puree and keep aside. In a bowl, mix together the mashed potatoes, pureed lentils and the rest of the ingredients for the kofta. Shape into equal-sized dumplings and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Bake in an oven at 170 °C in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes, or until they turn a light brown.
For the Gravy
Steam the onions, ginger, garlic, tomato and cashew nuts. Take them in a blender, blend to obtain a puree and keep aside. Roast sesame seeds, transfer to a dry grinder jar, grind to a smooth paste and keep aside.
Heat an Indian-style wok (kadahi), add cumin seeds and roast until they sputter. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté well, until it turns a light brown. Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder and sauté well. Add tomato cashew paste and cook well. Then, add the sesame paste and cook well. Add the powdered dry fenugreek leaves and season with salt. Arrange the baked dumplings in a shallow serving dish, pour the sauce over it and garnish with coriander leaves.
Serves 5-6