Ben and I have a bit of a thing for the Lamb Kofta’s in the M&S deli selection offering. They’re the perfect balance of sweet and savoury and taste delicious. Since we’ve been taking part in Veganuary however, lamb obviously isn’t an option. With an idea in my head and a few ingredients in the larder, I decided to give Vegan Kofta a go. Ben’s exact words when he tried these were ‘These are the best things you’ve ever made.’
These vegan Kofta also happen to be pretty easy to make, they just require a few different spices and the addition of Gram flour. If you don’t already have Gram flour in your cupboard, give it a try in your next supermarket shop. Made from chickpeas, it’s completely gluten free and so versatile in cooking! You can even mix it with water to make the easiest pancakes ever!
Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato (peeled)
Tin chick peas (drained and rinsed in cold water)
1 parsnip (peeled)
50g (roughly) raisins or sultanas
1 onion
1 large glove of garlic
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 vegetable stock cube
1 teaspoon pepper
50g gram flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Method:
- Put your raisins or sultanas in a mug and cover with boiling water, then leave aside to plump up
- Preheat the oven to 180°C
- Chop the sweet potato and parsnip then put in a pan and cover with water. Simmer on a high heat until chunks are soft
- Finely chop the onion and garlic and cook in the oil in a pan over a medium heat
- Add the garam masala, stock cube, pepper and chick peas to the onion, garlic and oil mix, stirring constantly to avoid anything sticking to the pan
- Drain the sweet potato and parsnip then add to the chick pea mixture, stir until combined
- In a blender, whiz up the sweet potato and chick pea mixture until blended, but not smooth
- Return to the pan and add the raisins/sultanas and gram flour. Stir until combined
- The mixture should be wet, but you should be able to scoop out a tablespoon’s worth at a time and form them loosely into small balls.
- At this point you can either bake the kofta balls in the oven on a (lightly greased) baking tray for 30 minutes. Or for best results, pan fry in a bit of oil to get a crispy outside, then oven bake for a further 25 minutes.
Let me know if you make these and how they turn out! Feel free to use whatever herbs and spices you feel like, to change the taste of the Vegan Kofta. Best eaten straight out of the oven, but will store well in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days!
