Raw Banana Kofta Curry

Hello, my dear friends, I hope you all are doing fine and staying at home following the lockdown guidelines. I know it's a long time since we all are stuck at home but believe me we shall together overcome this situation. YES, one thing we need to understand and follow religiously and i.e. social distancing for the next couple of months or more. We need to adapt ourselves to this Corona situation. 

Anyway, the thing which is keeping us happy in this situation is nothing but the food. This time I prepared Raw Banana Kofta Curry. Usually, we buy riped bananas from the market, peel it and gulp it down but do you know what amazing health benefits are hidden in raw bananas? They are not just good for making banana chips but they have numerous nutritional values too.

The green banana is eaten either cooked or boiled but you can fry it too. They are good source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and contain starch that may help control blood sugar, manage weight, and lower blood cholesterol levels.

So, considering all those nutritional values in mind, I thought of posting a recipe with Raw Bananas. With that said, why not make Koftas from them. They are incredibly delicious and go well with rice or any kind of parathas or chapatis.

Let's begin with the recipe:

Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta....whenever I hear this name soft, tender cheese dumplings dunked in rich, creamy Makhani gravy comes to my mind which is enough to make anyone drool. After Paneer Butter Masala this is the recipe which is I usually prefer to order if I want to eat anything Vegetarian in a restaurant and believe me these two recipes can never go wrong.

Malai means cream and Kofta means fried dumplings. If I talk about only Kofta then there are many variations of making them either veg or non-veg. I have already posted a recipe of Nargisi Kofta Curry. You can have a look here (Click Here).

This particular recipe of Kofta demands for Paneer (Cottage Cheese) and Potatoes. Some people like to add chopped veggies too but I prefer them this way. There are many ways in which you can prepare the Malai Kofta Curry: 

• cashew nut + onion + tomato based gravy 
• onion+tomato based gravy
• tomato based gravy

Here, I'm showing you the first version as this is the one which gives the gravy rich, perfect and creamy texture. This kind of gravy is also known as Makhni gravy. You can prepare number of dishes with this gravy some of them are: Paneer Butter Masala, Murg Makhani etc. Here I have used very less butter but if you want you can make the gravy completely in butter.

So let's start with the recipe:

Nargisi Kofta Curry

Mughlai Cuisine is one of the most popular cuisines in the Indian subcontinent. It's origin can be found back in Mughal empire where exotic dishes were prepared in the royal kitchens. Many of the dishes in Indian cuisine are influenced by their imperial cooking style.

Mughlai food is known for its richness. It is famous for the generous use of ground spices, nuts and dry fruits which make the dish quite spicy and give it a very unique aroma. The rich flavors and the exotic aroma are so tempting that can make any food loving person carve for more. 

The name of the dishes in this cuisine are so alluring that they invite you to try them out at least once. Whether its Biryani, Kofta, Korma, Shorba, Nihari, Haleem or Kebabs we love them all and usually end up licking our fingers. A huge thanks to the Mughal dynasty who introduced us to the special ingredients and techniques used in this form of cooking. 

We both are huge fans of Mughlai Cuisine and that's the reason our Sunday's are incomplete without Biryani and Shorba. I have already posted few recipes from this cuisine; you may check them out:

• Chicken BIryani
• Chicken Shami Kebab
• Kashmili Pulao (A fusion of Kashmiri and Bengali cuisine)

Today I'm again posting a delicacy from this cuisine which is Nargisi Kofta Curry. The term "Nargisi" is derived from the word "Nargis" which refers to "Narcissus"; a winter flower which has a yellow center with white petals around it just like a boiled egg. These koftas are hard boiled eggs coated with minced meat and then cooked in a gravy. When you cut the kofta it resembles the Nargis flower. There are two parts in making this recipe firstly making the koftas and then the sauce. The sauce can be a simple tomato based gravy or a Makhni sauce which enhances the flavors of these koftas. I prefer tomato based gravy over Makhni gravy to keep flavors intact yet adding a subtle richness to the gravy.

So let's start preparing this exotic dish: