Oil-free Zucchini Koftas
My regular guinea pig (read husband) was not in a mood of being my guinea pig today, so had to experiment with something that would satiate his taste buds, and yet be oil free. Ah, oil free because I was participating in an event called Oil Free Cooking, hosted on FB by my friends Sonal and Shailja. And, so this is what I did for him. Zucchini koftas, absolutely oil free, milk free, cream free, and nuts free too.
Ingredients:
For Koftas
- Zucchini – 300 gms
- Gram flour – 3-4 tbsp
- Salt – 1 tsp (to taste)
- Carom seeds – 1 tsp
- Ground black pepper – 1/2 tsp
- Asafoetida – a pinch
For Curry
- Onion – 2 medium
- Tomato – 2 medium
- Ginger – 1 inch
- Garlic – 2 cloves
- Green chilies – 2
- Greek yogurt – 2 -3 tbsp
- Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
- Asafoetida – a pinch
- Salt – 1 tsp (to taste)
- Red chili powder – 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
- Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
- Kitchen king powder – 1/4 tsp
- Water – 1 1/2 cup
- Sugar – 1/2 tsp (optional)
- Fresh Coriander for garnishing
Baking the Koftas
- Preheat the oven at 200 degrees, while you prepare the batter for koftas.
- Grate the zucchini (use the thin holes on the grater, this helps zucchini release juice, which will be used in making batter)
- Add all the ingredients mentioned under ingredients for koftas.
- Mix well. Zucchini releases enough water to make the batter. We need not add water. However, if you feel the zucchini is not enough juicy, go ahead and use a tea spoon of regular yogurt.
- Set aside for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, the oven will be ready too. I also lay down a baking sheet on the baking tray, before I put koftas to bake. Saves me the cleaning bit.
- Now using a spoon, scoop spoonful batter and put it on the baking tray. Repeat and make multiple koftas. The above ingredients yielded around 10-12 koftas. You don’t have to make them too big in size as they will swell up when added to the curry. So, keep them of the size of spoon.
- Bake them at 200 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until they are brown on both sides. Remember to flip them midway, i.e. after 8-10 minutes.And, the Koftas are ready. Now, onto making the curry
Making the scrumptious and healthy curry
- Blend onion, tomato, ginger, chili, garlic and 1 tbsp of Greek yogurt, in a blender.
- In a non-stick pan, dry roast the cumin seeds.
- Add asafoetida, when the cumin seeds start to crackle. Let it roast for a few seconds.
- Add the onion-tomato paste and stir after every few minutes to avoid sticking.
- If you notice the paste is sticking to the pan, sprinkle some water and stir. Let the paste roast until the raw smell goes away.
- Add salt, turmeric, coriander powder, and red chili powder. Stir to mix well.
- Add the remaining Greek yogurt and mix well. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.
- Add sugar. This is just to cut the extra tang, if any. You may skip it completely.
- Add water and bring it to boil on high flame.
- Lower the flame and add garam masala and kitchen king powder.
- Finally, Add the koftas and let it simmer for 5 – 7 minutes. The gravy/curry will thicken and the Koftas will swell up absorbing the curry, so keep the consistency a little thin than required.
- Garnish with fresh coriander and serve. (I didn’t have it, so skipped it).
Enjoy the guilt-free Koftas!
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