Veg Poha Kofta Curry Recipe (Non-Fried) | Step-by-Step Recipe (2024)

To make Vegetable Poha Kofta (makes 10-12 medium sized Koftas)

• 1/2 cup thick poha (flattened rice)
• 1/2 cup water (to soak poha) - can add little extra water if required
• 1 medium size carrot - peeled and fairly chopped
• 2 medium size potatoes - peeled and fairly chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
• 6 numbers french beans - finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1 tsp chaat masala
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 4 sprigs coriander leaves - finely chopped
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs - I have used whole wheat bread crumbs
• salt - as per taste
• oil - to make the koftas

To coat the Koftas

• 1/2 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp corn flour (corn starch)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp crushed black pepper

To make the Gravy

• 3 tsp oil
• 2 large tomatoes - finely chopped
• 2 medium onion - finely chopped
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 15 numbers cashews
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 + 2 cups vegetable stock - used to cook veggies earlier (or use water)
• 1 tsp red chilly powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 large bay leaf - or 2 small ones
• 1 tbsp kasuri methi - (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 2 tbsp yogurt - (curd)
• 1/2 tsp sugar or jaggery - optional
• salt - to taste
• coriander leaves chopped - to garnish

Preparing the Kofta

• Cook all the vegetables mentioned under 'To make vegetable kofta', in a pressure cooker or in an open pan. I prefer open pan to avoid overcooking.

• Once cooked, drain the water completely and let the veggies cool down slightly. To remove all the moisture content I recommend you keep it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes. Don't worry, veggies will not get frozen so soon.

• Preserve the vegetable stock, which can be used later to make gravy.

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• In the meantime, soak flattened rice/poha in water for 8-10 minutes. Once it is done, drain the water, squeeze out any extra water in the poha. Keep this aside.

• Take out the vegetables from the freezer after 20 minutes and transfer them to a mixing bowl. To this, add soaked and drained poha and all the other ingredients except oil mentioned under 'To make Vegetable Poha Kofta'. Mash the veggies and mix everything thoroughly.

• You should be able to make non-sticky balls. So, add more bread crumbs, if the mixture is sticky and you are not able to shape it to balls.

• Now heat a Paddu/Appe/Paniyaram pan, add 2 drops of oil in each cavity.

• By the time the pan gets hot, start shaping the vegetable poha mixture to balls, by greasing your palm with oil. Make sure to size them slightly smaller than the size of your paddu pan cavity, so that it can cook well.

• To a small bowl, add corn flour/ corn starch, salt, pepper and water and whisk well to form a lump-free thin mixture.

• Dip the kofta ball prepared earlier, in the corn flour mixture. Then, take it out and coat it uniformly with breadcrumbs. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining balls and transfer them onto a plate.

• Put the prepared kofta balls into the paddu pan cavities. Drizzle some oil over each of them, close a lid and cook on low-medium flame (this is important-sot hat it gets cooked well inside too).

• Once you see that the koftas have turned brown on one side, flip them carefully, without breaking them.

• Cook the other side too by adding a drop of oil. Once they are cooked well on all the sides, transfer them onto a kitchen paper so as to remove the oil.

Preparing the Gravy

• Take a thick bottom pan, add 1 tsp oil. Once it gets hot, add cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add finely chopped onions. Saute for a few minutes, then add ginger-garlic paste. Saute until the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes away and onion turns translucent.

• Now add chopped tomatoes and cook until mushy. Once this is done, add the cashews and cook for another 5 minutes.

• Next add in turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin powder. Saute for 5-8 minutes. Once this cools down, transfer to a mixer jar, add 1/4 cup vegetable stock and blend to a smooth paste.

• To the same pan, add 2 tsps oil. Once it turns hot, add bay leaves and saute until they turn light brown.

• Now transfer the prepared onion-tomato paste. Add some stock and simmer in low-medium heat for 10 mins until the mixture gets thick. Make sure to stir it often so that it does not get stuck to the pan.

• Once the mixture turns thick and has simmered well, add salt, jaggery/sugar, garam masala, curd, and vegetable stock.

• Simmer well for 5 more minutes in low-medium heat. Adjust the consistency by adding more water/vegetable stock, if it is thick. Finish off with crushed kasuri methi.

• Just before serving, transfer the Koftas to the curry. Simmer for about 5 minutes so that the flavors of the curry is absorbed well by the koftas. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with any flatbread or with rice

1. The vegetables can be chosen based on your choice. Other vegetables like cauliflower, capsicum, cabbage, onion etc., can also be added. If you wish to add raw vegetables with water content like radish, zucchini etc., make sure to squeeze and remove the water completely.
2. Quantity of bread crumbs can be adjusted based on the moisture content present in the vegetables. You can definitely add more, if the dough is sticky.
3. After making the kofta dough, if it is sticky, you can refrigerate for 15-20 minutes and then shape them to balls.
4. Adding jaggery / sugar does not make the gravy sweet. It perfectly balances the flavor.
5. Do not put the koftas in the gravy for too long, as they will turn soggy. So, just put them into the gravy before serving and simmer for few minutes