These days whenever I pick up a magazine or newspaper, I notice that they reserve a sizable amount of pages/space for healthy eating. Wherever you look, you see articles about healthy eating, ads marketing healthy food stuff, people advocating healthy life style. Me being an extremist tends to take one of the following courses as an after effect. Either I decide to be healthy and make sure that I eat well, I exercise well and all those stuff OR I decide to let it pass by saying what's the whole point if you cant enjoy a piece of cake or some beef fry or give into a sudden craving of having Chinese in the middle of the night ;)
This post is the result of me opting for the first part… deciding to be healthy. This recipe sure comes handy when you want to get a taste of healthy living. Another thing I love about this recipe is that, you dont have to buy any fancy ingredients, its pretty much basic stuff.
But let me warn you, dont be surprised if you see a fully calorie loaded recipe as the next post. I definitely love preaching than practicing ;)
Here is the recipe…
Ingredients
- 1 cup Red lentils (Masoor dal)
- 2.5 cups Water
- 2-3 Green chilly
- 1 tsp Garlic & ginger paste (each)
- 1 big Onion (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 2 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala (optional)
- 4 tbsp Besan flour (Gram flour)
- 1 Egg (beaten)
- Salt
- Oil
- Coriander leaves
Instructions
- Add water to the washed lentils and cook till its done. Drain well.
- Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onions. Saute till it becomes soft and changed color slightly. Add the green chilly & ginger garlic paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the spice powders & mix well. Cook for a minute. Add cooked dals & stir. Add gram flour and combine well. Remove from fire. Let it cool. Add the beaten egg & stir the mixture thoroughly to bind. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- With wet hands shape the lentil mixture into sausages or patties. Heat oil in pan & cook the koftas. You need only a little oil. Flip the koftas and make sure that all sides are browned evenly. Serve hot with hummus/tabbouleh or tomato ketchup.
Notes
Please check out the photo of Veg Kofta made by Anju Rameshan, based on the above recipe. Thanks a lot Anju :)
Recipe adapted from BBC Goodfood Magazine
I forgot to drain the dal after cooking nd now its runny. Help!
Hi. I forgot to drain the dal. Now the mixture is runny! Hiw do I save the batter? ? Help!!
HI Sann,
Hope you were able to save it. If there is extra water, just keep cooking and dal usually absorbs water quickly.
HI Sann,
Hope you were able to save it. If there is extra water, just keep cooking and dal usually absorbs water quickly.
Hi. I forgot to drain the dal. Now the mixture is runny! Hiw do I save the batter? ? Help!!
hiii da.. tried making koftha yesterday… but instead of red masoordal i cooked black one (by mistake)…Then i followed the same recipe and made patties…and the sandwich made with of it was just awesome..gave it to 2 neighbours too.. and they were asking me whthr its minced mutton sandwich…,,All who had it loved it… thanks once again mariakutyyy… ,,,love u love u love u :)
hiii da.. tried making koftha yesterday… but instead of red masoordal i cooked black one (by mistake)…Then i followed the same recipe and made patties…and the sandwich made with of it was just awesome..gave it to 2 neighbours too.. and they were asking me whthr its minced mutton sandwich…,,All who had it loved it… thanks once again mariakutyyy… ,,,love u love u love u :)
Thanks Sumi dear! Actually this kabab has a non veg taste, when I gave it to some of my friends, they also thought it was non veg ;)
Cheers
Maria
Thanks Sumi dear! Actually this kabab has a non veg taste, when I gave it to some of my friends, they also thought it was non veg ;)
Cheers
Maria
hiii da.. tried making koftha yesterday… but instead of red masoordal i cooked black one (by mistake)…Then i followed the same recipe and made patties…and the sandwich made with of it was just awesome..gave it to 2 neighbours too.. and they were asking me whthr its minced mutton sandwich…,,All who had it loved it… thanks once again mariakutyyy… ,,,love u love u love u :)
love your reciepes   superb !!!!!!!!!!
Thanks dear :)
Hi Maria,                                                                                                                  seeing the pictures of kofta itself made me to run to the kitchen, great maria thanku
heheheh :) that’s exactly I want you to so after seeing the pics and I’m glad that my plan is working out ;)
Thanks dear for the comment.
Cheers
Maria
Thank u for this recipe.. tried this one and it came out really well..
Thanks Nidha! Nice to know that you liked the koftas :)
Cheers
Maria
It looks really tasty but since i am a strict vegetarian i would like to know if i can substitute the egg with anything else?
Hi Vandana,
Thank you :)
I’m guessing mashed potato should work instead of egg. We usually use mashed potato for binding in cutlets, so I think that will do.
Please do share me your feedback, if you happen to try this.
Cheers
Maria
Did you cook the dal in the pressure cooker? How long did you soak the dal for?
Hi Mehr,
This dal cooks fast, so I didnt use a pressure cooker & I didnt soak it in water also. Just cooked it in a saucepan, it cooks really fast.
Cheers
Maria
Hi Maria…Koftas look good. I want to try it as well..but I have a question…do I have to cook the dal till well mashed up or just till it is cooked but still holds shape? If its too well mashed up, wont there be too much water that will make shaping of the patties tougher? Please clarify.
Thanks
Hi Preethi,
Thank you :)
I remember over cooking the dal a bit for this recipe. But I made sure that I strained the water completely. Since we are adding 4 tbsp of besan/gram flour, shaping of patties isnt a problem.
Hope you’ll like it. Please do share your feedback if you happen to try it.
All the best!
Cheers
Maria
hiiiiiiiiiiiii… i tried out the veg kofta and it came out really well… it din turn hard… we kept some and had it the next day… heres the link showin how ma kofta turned out… http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=13399729&l=8a6a59db50&id=756780164
plannin to try more recipes from here… thankuuu
Hi Anju,
Thank you so much for trying out the recipe. The picture of your kofta is great, I loved it :)
If you dont mind, can we share that picture here?
Cheers
Maria
@Maria, yea sure maria… i wud be glad to share the pic… it wud be a grt feelin to see ma dish on ur site… :)
Hi Anju,
Thank you so much dear :)
You can see the picture below:
https://mariasmenu.wpcomstaging.com/chicken/readers-choice
https://mariasmenu.wpcomstaging.com/vegetarian/vegetable-kofta
Cheers
Maria
very beautifully presented…and crispy little kofta just waiting to be devoured!
They look yummy !!!! Really a healthy option for cravings to hav smthing really “chatpata” !
luv your presentation da and ofcourse they look very tempting! :D will try it soooon!
Nice vegetable koftas Maria!
i like the last line…preaching than practising lol lol
my goodness..it does look scrumptious..and the pic makes it all the more inviting..
wow, nice veggie koftas Maria, looks very tempting, cripsy golden cuties..
Love
Kairali sisters
lentil koftas a such a great change to the potato based koftas that you see around more often. Like the idea of shallow frying. I sometimes do that or just bake it!