Guest Post: Oler Kofta Curry

While you may heard of having chicken kofta or mutton kofta or may be the raw banana kofta, kofta prepared with yam (ol in Bengali) is quite an unique preparation. When Suchismita posted this recipe in Cook Like a Bong Facebook page, I just couldn’t help myself but request her to use it as a guest post here.

Koftas originated from Middle East, it being a variation of the more known meatballs in the Western countries. As the preparation touched the Indian shores, each state started turning this meat preparation into a different. The Bengalis were at pace and you can find a varied version of koftas ranging from potatoes to paneers and from mutton to beef.

Ingredients:

For kofta:

• 200gms yam or ol
• ¼ cup gram flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon chopped ginger,
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic,
• 1 tablespoon chopped green chilli or red chilli powder,
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon whole garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sugar,
• Salt to taste

For curry:

• 1 large potato, cut into 1” squares
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste,
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder,
• 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 teaspoon sugar,
• Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon ghee,
• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder

Preparation:

For kofta:

• Boil the yam in water, mash the boiled yam
• Add the chopped onion, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, chopped green chilli ba icche hole red chilli powder, sugar, and salt and mix well
• Roast the cumin and garam masala, and grind to a fine powder
• Sprinkle the roasted spices to the mashed yam, add the gram flour
• Make a dough
• Make small balls of this dough
• Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the yam balls, take out and drain out the excess oil using a kitchen paper

For curry:

• Half fry the potatoes and keep aside
• Throw in the bay leaves and cumin seeds in the same oil, as the seeds start sputtering add the onion, and sauté
• As the onions turn brown, put in the ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, sugar. Fry till the oil separates
• Add the potatoes
• Pour in about 2 cups of warm water
• Season with salt, cook covered
• As the potatoes get cooked, add the koftas and cook for some more time
• Sprinkle the garam masala and pour in the ghee
• Take out of the flame, and serve hot

I’m a little confused with the actual English for ol/wol. If you know please share.

If you like this post, please consider linking to it or sharing it with others. I’ll love to hear your comments too.You can also Subscribe to BengaliCuisine by Email, or  Subscribe in a reader