Cabbage Kofta Curry

Ingredients:

     For Koftas:

• Cabbage - 1/2 kg - Very finely chopped
• Chana dal - 2 table spoons
• Jeera -  a pinch or 1/3 table spoon
• Green Chilly - 1 - finely chopped
• Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Besan - 1 tsp - for binding the cabbage and the other ingredients together before deep frying.
• Oil - for deep frying

     For Gravy:

• Onion - 1 - chopped
• Jeera - 1 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp (or) freshly chopped garlic pods and ginger - one table spoon each
• Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Cashew powder - 2 tsp (to thicken the gravy)
• Curd - 3/4 cup
• Kasuri methi - powdered - one tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation:

     Kofta:

• Boil one cup of water in a pan and add the finely chopped cabbage and allow it to cook for a while. Add a little salt to this.
• Pressure cook the chana dal separately till its just about 75% done.
• Now, add the boiled chana dal to the steaming cabbage, cover this with a lid and cook them together till the cabbage and the dal are cooked completely.
• When this is done, put the mixture on a muslin cloth and squeeze out all the water from it. Reserve  this water for making the gravy.
• Now, add a little jeera, red chilly powder, chopped green chilly, salt and a table spoon of besan to the cabbage and dal mixutre and mix everything together using your hand to get a consistency where you are able to make small balls/koftas.
• Heat oil in a deep frying pan, on slow flame and drop the koftas in. It is important to fry the koftas in slow flame so that they get evenly cooked. Also, do not disturb the koftas in oil, often using a laddle since it might break open. 
• Once they turn golden brown, remove them  from oil and keep it aside until the gravy is prepared.

     Gravy:

• Heat one table spoon of oil in a pan and add a tsp of jeera and wait for a few seconds till they turn brown. 
• Now add the finely chopped onion and saute them till they turn slightly brown.
• Now add a pinch of turmeric powder, salt, and the ginger garlic paste and fry them for a minute. 
• Add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and stir them well and immediately pour in the water that was strained from cabbage and dal mixture and keep stirring the mixture well till the water comes to a boil.
• Beat 3/4 cup of curd and add pour this as well into the pan, and let the mixture boil well again for a little more while.
• Now add 2 tablespoons of cashewnut powder to this gravy and keep stirring it for a few minutes. 
• You will notice the gravy thickening slightly. Finally crush dry kasuri methi leaves between both the palms and add it to the gravy and drop the fried koftas into the gravy. 
• Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and set this aside for sometime before serving so that the koftas get the flavor of the gravy.
• Enjoy delicious cabbage kofta curry with chapathi/paratha.