This veg kofta recipe uses red cabbage, an abundance of spices, and a delicious tomato gravy - an utterly spectacular and colorful (to understate it) cabbage dish that you simply have to taste! Serve these crispy, unctuous and meaty cabbage balls with some freshly cooked basamati rice, which will help soak up the tomato gravy even better. If you're into cruciforms and eccentric takes on classic cuisine, then you gotta make these!
Grate about 4 cups worth of red cabbage. Add that to a mixing bowl along with the ginger, garlic, chickpea flour, baking powder, spices and salt. Let this mixture sit for about 10 minutes before frying in a skillet.
Meanwhile, make the tomato gravy. In a small sauce pan over medium heat with olive oil, cook the chickpea flour for about 1 to 2 minutes, whisking well until it smells toasty and has slightly darkened in color. Then add the tomato sauce, brown sugar, garam masala, red wine vinegar and salt. Stir well until incorporated, then turn down the heat and set aside until you're ready to serve the fried kofta.
Now, for the kofta into walnut-sized balls, and flatten them slightly. Then, in a skillet over medium heat with a couple tablespoons olive oil, pan fry the kofta for about 3 minutes or so on each side, until golden brown and crispy. Lay them on a paper towel, and then store in a warm oven until you're ready to serve.Note: you can always add a little bit more chickpea flour to the kofta batter if the kofta aren't holding together well.
Assemble the dish by laying down tomato gravy, topped with the kofta. You also have to option to add fresh basmati rice too, but it's not necessary.