Delectable Kathal Korma in a Kharbuza and yogurt based Gravy

Weekend means shopping veggies, pantry stock & fruits from nearby ‘market’ or ‘subzi mandi’ to last for the upcoming week. Especially weekends, I feel are more stressful for working women like us...

It is also the time when “V” usually demands for some unique recipe to be made and as you know because of my love for cooking, I like to happily submit myself to such kind of requests.

I wanted to make something which tastes unusual from the normal vegetarian curry and frankly speaking I wanted to give it a twist of non-vegetarian dish. So the only option was to make something out of raw jack fruit  This is not referred to as the vegetarian meat for no reason and cooking this in onion-garlic gravy really brings out the flavor. So when hubby demanded some Korma curry I knew I will have to plan it along with some flavored rice to keep the meal simple. So it was jeera rice and “Kathal Korma” for the weekend lunch that we immensely enjoyed.

Raw jack fruit is a very famous vegetable that is predominantly used in the tropical coastal places. It is very rich in fiber content and rich in vitamins. It is also rich in protein, iron and calcium content. The health benefits include boosted immunity and improvement in overall health.

Ingredients:

For the kofta: (makes 12-15 koftas)

Boiled Diced raw jackfruit: 1 ½ cup

Besan: ¼ cup

Cashew nuts: 5 pieces, finely chopped

Onion: 1 big finely chopped

Ajwain: 1/2 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste: 1 tsp

Green chilies: 2

Chilli powder:1 tsp

Roasted pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander seeds and cardamom powder

Salt according to taste

Oil: 1 tbsp+ for deep frying

For the Korma Gravy Base:

Fried Onion paste: 1 cup

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Hung Yogurt: ¾ cup

Cashewnut and kharbuza seeds paste-keep cashewnut in a small bowl of milk and water along with kharbuza seeds forhalf an hour. Strain the seeds and grind them to a paste.

Oil: 2 tbsp

Dry Powder/Whole Spices:

Kashmiri chili powder: 1 tsp

Garam masala powder: 1/3 tsp

Tumeric: a pinch

Sabzi masala-1 tsp

Green cardamom: 1 pieces

Bay leaf: 1 pieces

Cloves: 3-4 pieces

Cinnamon stick: 1 small

Sabut Jeera:1 tsp

Dry Red Chilli for garnishing

Salt

Method:

Boil the tender jackfruit pieces till it’s cooked through and easy to mash. Do not overcook the jackfruit as it will be mushy and tasteless. Drain the water and mash all the ingredients for the koftas together. Gram flour (besan) is used for binding everything together so make sure the consistency is right. No single flavor should over power other essential aromas. Ration of everything should be apt to make the koftas succulent.

With moist hand make round dumplings out of the mixture and deep fry them on low flame till they turn golden. Set them aside to prepare the

For the korma gravy, heat 1 Table Spoon Mustard Oil and heat it. Add Whole spices to the hot oil and allow it to crackle. Now add the powder spices on low flame and continuously stir it so that it doesn’t get seared. When the rawness of spices disappears, add the chashewnut and kharbuza seeds paste and stir it over low flame. Add the fried onion paste till the raw smell is gone and oil separates, mix salt and hung yoghurt to the korma. Keep the flame low and add some water to give the korma a nice consistency. Keep on cooking on low flame till all the extra water dries up. Approx. 8-10 minutes. Mix in the chopped coriander leaves and add on the koftas softly to the gravy without turning or churning the dish. Switch of the flame after 5-8 minutes and let it cool. Sprinkle a half tea spoon of roasted garam masala powder and grated jaiphal(nutmeg) on top of the gravy for a nicer aroma.

Heat oil in a frying pan and add two dry red chilli and sauté it for few seconds to get rid of the rawness and to give it nice color.Now garnish the dish with the fried dry red chilli along with coriander leaves.

Tips:

·          

Always take raw white in color jack fruit.

·Use hung yogurt instead of normal yogurt  It gives a creamier consistency. It is also a healthier version.