Steamed Cabbage Koftas in Chetinad Gravy

This is one more new recipe from my kitchen. I had planned to make paneer paratha as I had made paneer at home yesterday. So I wanted to make something that can be served with the parathas.I had very limited stock of vegetables(fridge wasalmost empty. I had some cabbage, tomatoes and some broad beans.
As I was thinking, I got this idea of making cabbage koftas. But it did not want to deep fry them. In South Indian cuisine we make steamed lentil koftas which we cook in spicy tamarind gravy. It’s called as paruppu( lentil) urundai( ball) khuzhambu( gravy).

That gave me idea to try this steamed cabbage koftas. To make more interesting, I made Chetinad gravy as my family is very fond of Chetinad Cuisine.

I very glad that I went ahead with my idea.

It came out really well and my family gave me a thumps up for this recipe:)

Ingredients

Finely grated cabbage- 1 cup

Yellow moong dal- 1/2 cup

Peeled shallots- 1 cup

Chopped tomatoes- 1 cup

Peeled garlic- 1/4th cup

Tamarind- plum sized

Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder- 1 tsp

Coriander powder- 1 tbsp

Fennel( saunf) powder- 1/2 tsp

Red chillies -2

Fennel seeds- 1 tsp

Mustard- 1 tsp

Hing- a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil- 2 tbsps

Curry leaves- few

Method

Wash and soak moong dal for 2 hrs.

Drain completely. Add red chillies, hing and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, salt to taste and grind to a coarse paste.

Soak tamarind in a cup of water for 1 hr. Squeeze well and take the extract and kept it aside.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan. Add the finely grated cabbage. Sauté for few mins till the raw smell goes and it’s partially cooked.

Take off the gas and add the ground dal paste to this and mix well.

Grease a plate ( I used idli plate). Make balls of the cabbage and dal mixture. Arrange on the greased plate and steam the balls for 10-12 mins or till its cooked ( if you insert a tooth pick, it should come out clean).

Keep it aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in pan. Add the garlic. Sauté for few seconds and the add the shallots. Sauté till the shallots turn slightly golden.

Now add the tomatoes, turmeric powder, chilli, coriander and saunf powder and little salt to taste. Sauté for few mins and then add the tamarind extract and 1/2 cup of water. Let it boil for 10 mins.

Cool the gravy and grind to a smooth purée.

Add 1/2 more cup of water and mix well.

Put it on the gas and start adding the steamed koftas one by one. Let it cook in the gravy for sometime. Once the koftas start floating, it means that it’s ready.