Aloo Kofta/Potato Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce
This is a continuation of the saga of the Aloo Vadas/Fried Potato Dumplings. I will not write much today except for a little note on the evolution of this dish.
Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook is hosting the DMBLGIT this month. Susan has graciously asked me to be on the judging panel. Thank you! I am very very honored. Do take a look at the beautiful gallery.Go ahead and submit your best picture from the month of February to be a part of this event. The last day to submit is March 20.
Now back to the recipe. Ever since I met A, I have been hearing of this dish; obviously his favorite. I also had this the first time I went to his home as a “friend” with no apparent long life “plans”. So this had to be one of the first dishes I had to learn of make among a few from his mom. The Aloo Kofta and the Layered Pineapple Cake made the special appearances on the table for all of his special occasions and special requests. That was before we had kids and then the frequency reduced due to the obvious lack of time and patience, for this does take a long time to make. This time my MIL cooked while I did the rest (photographs and post preparation).
The recipe originally hails from the state of Gujarat; tiny tiny balls of potatoes (about the size of chickpeas) are fried in the same way as the Aloo Vadas and they are simmered in a similar sauce. It is known as the Gori nu Shak (gori= tiny morsels/ball shak: curry). The tedious process of rolling the minuscule vadas gradually gave way to the regular sized vadas which are cooked in the similar way. The change has been made by my MIL.
Do keep in mind that this is a very rich dish. Do not compromise on the oil. If less oil is used, the spice mix will be left uncooked and will get bitter. Not cooked on a daily basis, this is something to indulge and savor; so do it completely when you take so much effort and time to cook.
Aloo Kofta/Potato Dumplings in Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients: ( serves about 8 -10)
- Aloo Vadas (about 35-40)
- 3 medium onions, ground into a paste
- 3/4 cup oil
- 6-7 green cardamom
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorn
- 8-10 cloves
- 2 inch stick of cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- salt
- red chili powder (try to get hold of Kashmiri Chili Powder for more color and less heat) -as per your taste
- 3 tablespoons garlic paste
- 3 full cups thick yogurt/about 700gm (if the yogurt you are using is runny, strain it to drain the water)
- fresh cilantro/coriander leaves, chopped – for garnish
Preparation:
Heat oil in a pan. Add the cinnamon, clove and cardamom; when they sizzle add the ground onion and fry it at medium heat for about 1/2 hour or till light yellowish brown, while constantly stirring so the paste does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
Combine the garlic paste, coriander powder, turmeric, salt and red chili powder in 1 cup water.Add the above spice mix to the onion paste in the pan.
Fry till till dry and the oil separates, for about 12-15 minutes.
Blend the yogurt smooth in a blender. Switch of the heat of the pan, and add the blended yogurt to pan.
Add about 3 cups of water and switch on the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes switching between low and medium heat. Do not stir; if you do need to stir do it minimally and in a single direction. Yogurt tends to “break” or “split” when cooked over heat.Switch off the heat.
Just before you would want to serve, add the Aloo Vadas to the pan. Switch on the heat; simmer with the Aloo pakoras for about 5-8 minutes at medium heat. Garnish with fresh cilantro if you want and serve immediately.
Serve with rice/pulav or flatbreads. We had ours with pulav with caramelized onions and rotis slathered with ghee. Let me tell you, it is sheer bliss!
If you have left overs, gently save them in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave; if you are re heating on the stove top, do not move it around too much.
Related Posts:
Dal Makhani/Lentils Simmered in Creamy Tomato Sauce
D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!
This lookd great and ya, a lot of oil, yes?
I love your blog a lot since you describe unusual ingredients in details. 😀
The curry looks so rich and creamy…and the colour you got, wow….yummy recipe, love to try this sometime
the colour… oh my god.. the colour… am literally drooling Soma 🙂
just staring at the snaps i can’t resist drooling shamelessly….then what will happen after tasting this delicious dish….?????
I’m so glad I subscribed to your blog. I’ve just started venturing into more Indian dishes, and this one definitely looks great. I hope you can check out the murgh makhani I made. Thank you for posting this. I will bookmark this recipe.
looks so professional! good one soma 🙂
A splendid dish! I love it’s color! Lovely shots too.
Cheers,
Rosa
OH MY GOSH.. how do I love thee.. This looks so darn fabulous, GOSH, I love it.
Love these spicy dishes once in a while. Lucky you Soma … ma in law cooking … you just clicking. 😉
Typical Rajasthani khabar khub bhalo lage … especially jokhon onek kichu ek shonge banano hoye … tobe ami eka pere uthi na. 🙂
simply delicious soma! love ordering this at restaurants! gotta to try it at home with this recipe!
That looks absolutely incredible, a dish to celebrate indeed! All your curry pictures make me weak in the knees 😀
The pics are brilliant..and i think i will def try it out some day…
I love the looks of it vibrant and colorful and definitely lip smacking delicious.
That looks divine… rich and delicious! Love the pictures
This is lovely Soma. Sasu Ma’r hather besh bhalo bhalo ranna khacho 🙂
I have never had this curry. I am so so gonna make this once when i have guest. Then i don’t have to take care of oil as it is party 😉
So rich and delicous looking. I think i want to borrow your MIL for a day as i remember you saying she made those frited potatoes for making this in your other post.
Your photos are amazing. Makes one want to grab a plate and add some roti and Aloo Kofta. I like kofta’s. Good post. Thanks for sharing.
Soma you’re totally making me drool all over the place here! Adore the colors and texture of the dish 🙂
Have a great week,
Gera
How do I save them roughly in the fridge? 😉
The curry looks absolutely amazing! Perfect for veggie feasts.
LOL AnA;-)
They do get into to a mush if you don’t do it “gently”….
Spectacular Koftas Soma. The color of the curry is making me drool… and I love the copper bowls you have used…
Delicious Soma! Looks like a non veg curry. I do not see ginger in the gravy and I have made them only with ginger garlic paste. Would love to try different versions. Great Clicks.
Look at the oil sure a rich dish! Something different, I never tasted before 🙂 Ur pict reminds a cook book shot, excellent!
Loving all the spices and the heat! Gorgeous.
I can see why this is a favorite dish! I can almost smell all those wonderful spices by looking at your photos.
Delicious Soma!!! Oh how I wish to have these delicious koftas with some roti…. and ya, lovely clicks!!!!
Soma, this looks incredible! Oh BTW I really wanted to make your purple potato salad but couldn’t find any purple potatoes (on the inside, they were purple on the outside). But I’m determined to do it as it was so gorgeous! 😛
Love the color! So dark and rich! Gori Nu Shaak looks yummmm!
Yum! Looks so warm and comforting. I love the copper vessels.
Sounds yumm and looks soo gud and loved that serving bowl too!
wow,..:-)
Planning for a lunch/dinner for a newly wed couple. I am goin to make this Soma!
Wow that dish just jumps out at you n says eat me … lol !
I’ve always had malai kofta but aloo kofta is new to me. Have to try these.
This dish sounds excellent, I would love to try!
Wow! this is so delicious..beautiful clicks..
Delicious, I would love to try this ! Lovely pictures….
I love those pots, Soma! The dish sounds delicious, I love Indian flavors…. would love a piece of that bread with a large bowl of that sauce 🙂
Beautiful pictures…I have to try this recipe….it looks irresistible!
This Aloo kofta is new to me Soma, looks delicious. I only know about Malai Kofta/ Kofta curry. Also loved those beautiful brass vessels you have there.
Those looks like meat balls 😀 and the curry gravy looks very delicious and spicy.
Soma, really this looks amazing and so delightful! I also like the copper cookware, so cool. The pictures.. so professional. Thanks for sharing Soma.
feels like having it right now from ur pic
Looks delicious .. hey iam hosting a giveaway if ur intrested pls stop by at my blog if u get a chance .
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Got me very hungry,delicious spread of food 😀
It really look so delicious! I definitely love this dish. I can’t wait to try this one.
I made the gravy. It tasted like kadhi. And not so good at that.
Really sorry about that!
The gravy should taste nothing like Kadhi. Something must have gone wrong here. There is too much oil in the recipe for it to taste like Kadhi. Are you sure you used the same amount of oil as mentioned? The onions need to be cooked fully (if not it will taste raw and bland.. nearing kadhi) and to cook that much onion paste, you would need the oil. Did the yogurt split? another reason for the Kadhi taste, and the probable one. When the yogurt splits while cooking, it releases the water as the solid separates, making it watery and light. The way this should turn out is like it shows in the photos, with all the oil floating on the top.
I have cooked many Indian dishes in my life and I have not had as much trouble as I did with this recipe. I followed it to the letter. It might have photographed beautifully but, I ended up throwing it out the gravy it was so horrible tasting. It ruined the dumplings too. Lots of ingredients and time wasted. As I started making it I knew it was not going to be good, but I had faith and kept pressing on in hopes that it would turn out as wonderful as it looked. I just have to say i’m very disappointed.
I am very very sorry 🙁 This is one of those complicated dishes and it took me years to master this. There are too many factors that make it possible to ruin this dish. This has been photographed as it is – nothing has been changed to make it look good. The first ingredient that can mess this up is the onion paste – less cooked/more cooked – a little difference in any of these can ruin it. I am not saying you did anything wrong, it is just the nature of it. Then the yogurt. A whole lot depends on the kind of yogurt and taste and also if it is split. I totally understand for I have been through this exact thing through my initial years. The times where we have had to just snack on the potato fritters and not use the sauce. That is the reason I waited so long to post this. The only way I did perfect this is by repeatedly watching my MIL actually cook this. If you see the previous comment, you will see that it did not turn out right for that reader too. So it has nothing to do with what you did.
Then this dish has the rustic, heavy and rich Indian taste which is quite unusual and it might take a while to fall in love with it, if you do.
Thank you for your reply Soma. I really felt I was losing my touch. I know there are those recipes out there that require practice and a special touch and I can see now this is one of them. I did not mean to make it sound as if your recipe was flawed and I was not trying to be negative so forgive me if it came off that way. I was just so disappointed in how it came out. I have tried several recipes that you have posted and all the rest were great! Including the Aloo Vadas in this recipe., they are so delicious on their own. Thanks again.