Cabbage Kofta Curry

        What do you do when you have lots of cabbage in the refrigerator and don't want to eat the regular simple curry? I had this situation recently, and I also had some frozen garlic naan. So I decided to use everything and try something new. So here it is, Cabbage Koftas(dumplings) in a rich creamy gravy.
        Malai Kofta is a popular dish in the mughlai cuisine. Typically, the koftas or the dumplings are made from potato and Paneer and served with a rich tomato gravy. But this is a variation, the koftas are made from cabbage. They are delicious and slightly spicier than the traditional ones.
         One more variation is, the traditional gravy has lot of cream for the richness. But the recipe here is vegan, made from cashews and whole spices.

       Hope you all like this variation of the traditional Kofta curry.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded Cabbage
• 1 cup Gram Flour (Besan)
• 2 tbsp Green Chili paste
• 2 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
• 1 tsp Garam Masala
• 1 finely chopped Onion
• 2 finely chopped Tomatoes
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 2-3 Cloves
• 1/2 cup raw Cashews
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Chili powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander-Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1/2 tsp dry Fenugreek leaves (Kasturi Methi)
• Chopped Cilantro for garnish
• A pinch of Asafoetida
• A pinch of Baking Soda
• Salt to taste
• Oil

Instructions:

For the Koftas:

• Take a big mixing bowl, add the cabbage, baking soda and salt and mix well.
• Add the chili paste, ginger-garlic paste and garam masala and mix well.
• Now, add the gram flour, 1 spoon at a time and mix well to make a dough.
• The dough has to be a little harder than the normal medium consistency. If the dough is too hard, add some water. And if the dough is too soft, add some more flour.
• Now, drop a spoonful of mixture in a heated oil and deep fry till they are golden brown. We can also make discs and shallow fry them with little or no oil.
• Drain on absorbent paper and keep it aside.

• Now heat some oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and cumin seeds along with cloves and cinnamon.
• Once the seeds start to crackle and the spices are fragrant, add the onions and garlic. 
• Saute onions till they are translucent.
• Now add the tomatoes and cashews and mix it well.
• Saute them for 3-4 minutes, till all the raw smell of cashews is gone.
• Take it off the heat and let it cool for some time.
• Now, grind this mixture into a smooth paste. Add some water if needed.
• Then add some oil in the same pan and add the paste.

• Add all the spices (salt, chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander cumin powder) and fenugreek leaves and mix it well.
• Also add a cup or two of water and mix. Simmer the gravy till it thickens and reaches medium consistency.

• Add the koftas only at the time of serving, else they may become soggy.
• Garnish with some cilantro and serve with any kind of Naan, Roti, paratha or rice