Vegan Malai Kofta, Courgette 'Meatballs' in a Curried Cashew Nut & Tomato Sauce

Busy helping my elderly mother house hunt in my Hampshire village, and prepare for the school holidays, but I have managed to try a new vegan recipe.

A chef/photographer that I follow on Instagram @beeeze posted a delicious looking photo of Courgette & Cashew Koftas.  On googling I discovered it is called Malai Kofta, and several people have posted a Madhur Jaffrey recipe.

As I had 3 large yellow courgettes in our vegbox last week, this seemed a good way to sneak them past my curry loving kids.

Serves 4

Koftas /Vegballs
3 large courgettes
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
Large pinch of extra strong chilli flakes
1 large onion, finely diced or grated
1cm fresh ginger, finely diced or grated
1 clove of garlic, finely diced or crushed
3 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
65g chickpea flour, plain or gluten free flour
Vegetable oil (for frying)

Curry Sauce
50g cashew nuts
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely minced or grated
1 clove of garlic, finely diced or crushed
1cm fresh ginger, finely diced or grated
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 can chopped tomatoes
1⁄4 tsp turmeric
Large pinch extra strong chilli flakes
1⁄2 tsp garam masala
Salt (to taste)

Grate the courgettes into a colander over a bowl.  Sprinkle and toss with the salt and leave for half an hour, then squeeze out as much moisture as you can, decant the liquid into a cup for using in the sauce later, and return the squeezed out courgette to the bowl.  Mix in the other kofta ingredients, then shape into 20 large marble/small golf ball sized balls.

Fry gently in a shallow frying pan, browning on all sides, then cover to keep warm whilst you make the curry sauce.

To make the curry sauce, pour just enough boiling water over the cashew nuts to cover in a blender jug.

Fry the onion in a sauce pan until it starts to brown.  Add the ginger and garlic, stir around, add the dry spices, stir around again.  Tip the chopped tomatoes into the blender jug and liquidise with the water and cashew nuts.  Add the creamy tomatoes to the saucepan along with the rest of the ingredients and simmer with a lid on for 20 minutes.

Serve over the kofta on basmati rice.  If the kofta need reheating, you can simmer them in the sauce, but be careful as they fall apart very easily.

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