Zucchini Kofta Curry

A zucchini kofta curry made with savory zucchini and chickpea flour dumplings that are served over rice with a richly spiced tomato and fenugreek sauce.

When life gives you a picky eater for your first child, you react totally appropriately and make curry every week to ensure your second child eats all the things (but especially the spicy, boldly flavored food that your first child rejects on sight).

That’s the saying, right?

In all seriousness, I know that so much of picky eating is a combination of normal development with influence from an individual child’s temperament and has absolutely nothing to do with how or what you feed them. Remy was exposed to plenty of different cuisines and flavors as a baby, yet subsists on cheese quesadillas, pizza, and PB&Js to this day. As a new parent I was probably overly concerned with whether or not she was eating and so I was quick to make her something I knew she would like when she rejected our meal, so that’s on me. But also she’s stubborn. 

Live and learn and show no mercy when serving food to your second child – you eat what mom makes or you can eat nothing.

I can be stubborn, too.

The flip side of it is that I LOVE Indian food and would make it every week anyway. We have some of our forever family favorites (like this paneer butter masala that even my picky eater loves), but you know me. I’m always looking to try something new. 

Chetna Makan, of The Great British Bake Off fame, has published a series of both sweet and savory cookbooks centered around Indian cuisine. I have purchased a few of them and am slowly but surely cooking my way through them. I was flipping through her Healthy Vegetarian cookbook recently when I came across these zucchini kofta and knew I wanted to give them a try. I have been wanting to dabble more in the world of savory fritters, especially for introducing new flavors and textures to Nico, so these seemed perfect!

Made from a combination of grated zucchini, chickpea flour (also called besan or gram flour), chili powder, and amchoor (dried mango powder) these are simple to put together and fry up into light and flavorful fritters. They have a hint of spice to them but are not overwhelmingly hot. I especially love that they include chickpea flour, which is a great source of protein and iron for grown-ups and babies alike.

The kofta are paired with a rich tomato-based curry that is flavored with Indian spices such as garam masala, turmeric, and dried fenugreek leaves. The two go so well together and the perfect bites are ones that include both the kofta and the sauce. We served these over a bed of basmati rice, but it would also be great with naan, chapatis, or on their own as an appetizer.

Zucchini Kofta Curry

 

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A zucchini kofta curry made with savory zucchini and chickpea flour dumplings that are served over rice with a richly spiced tomato and fenugreek sauce.

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the curry

• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 green chili pepper, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• ½-inch fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 250 ml water
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp sugar
• ½ tsp deggi mirch chili powder
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 1 tbsp heavy cream or full fat coconut milk

For the koftas

• 2 zucchinis (about 12 oz)
• 50 g chickpea flour
• 1/t tsp salt
• ½ tsp deggi mirch chili powder
• ½ tsp amchoor (dried mango powder)
• neutral oil, for frying

To serve

• cooked rice

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 15 minutes or until deeply golden and soft. Add in the chili pepper, garlic, and ginger. Saute for 1 minute or until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
2. Allow to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour back into the pan and add the water, salt, sugar, chili powder, garam masala, turmeric, and kasuri methi. Cover and cook for 5 minutes over low heat.
3. For the koftas, coarsely grate the zucchini and using a clean towel or cheesecloth squeeze out as much of their liquid as possible. Place into a bowl and mix with the chickpea flour, salt, chili powder, and amchoor.
4. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom. Once the oil is shimmering, shape the kofta mixture into 8 balls, pressing them into patty shapes. Reduce the heat to medium, add to the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side or until golden and cooked through.
5. Stir the cream into the curry. Divide the rice among serving bowls, then top with the curry and two koftas per bowl. Serve immediately.

Notes

Recipe from Chetna's Healthy Indian: Vegetarian

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