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Koftas consist of balls of minced or ground meat/vegetables - mixed with spices and/or onions.

In India, vegetarian varieties include koftas made from potato, calabash (bottle gourd), paneer or banana (raw banana). In Europe, kofta is often served as fast-food sandwich in kebab shops.

Koftas in India are usually served cooked in a spicy curry/gravy and are eaten with boiled rice or a variety of Indian breads.

The koftas are then either baked or deep fried and simmered with tomato sauce.

Raw banana kofta curry also known as kachche kela kofta curry or kele ke kofte, is one of popular kofta curry made with raw banana fried dumplings or kofta served with flavourful sauce.

Raw Banana Kofta Curry or Kela Kofta Curry can be made in different ways, one is the North Indian style another version is a rich gravy where cashew-nuts, cream etc are used. Here I am sharing the North Indian style of raw banana kofta curry which is usually served on special occasions. It goes very well with plain/steamed rice or jeera (cumin seeds) rice.

In its two-stage preparation, the first stage requires preparing raw banana fried dumplings or koftas by deep frying them. The second stage is the preparation of rich gravy of onions, tomatoes, garlic, ginger and green chillies, in which these deep fried dumplings are added.

Plain rice refers to rice that has been cooked either by steaming or boiling. You may cook plain rice with or without salt, depends on your taste.

The terms steamed rice or boiled rice are also commonly used for plain rice. Any variant of Asian rice (both Indica and Japonica varieties), African rice or wild rice, glutinous or non-glutinous, long-, medium-, or short-grain, of any colour, can be used. Rice for cooking can be whole grain or milled.

Plain rice is very simple to cook and takes not too much time. You don't need to have a rice cooker to make plain rice. You can use a saucepan or a pressure cooker.

In India rice is cooked daily in main meals in many families. Plain rice goes well with any gravy dish.

Raw banana kofta curry with rice makes a perfect combination and is very delicious in taste.

Ingredients

Preparation

For Raw banana kofta

• Cut both ends of raw bananas and cut it into 2 pieces. Pressure cook the raw bananas with skin, for 2 whistles.

• Then peel and mash the raw bananas. Keep them aside.

• Heat about 1-2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick pan, when oil gets hot add ajwain (carom seeds) and kalonji seeds (nigella sativa) into it and sauté for a minute, on a medium flame.

• Now add finely chopped green chillies and ginger and sauté till the ginger turns into light golden colour. Stir in between.

• Now add finely chopped garlic and onions into it and mix well. Cook till the onions gets translucent. Stir occasionally.

• Then add turmeric powder and salt to it. Mix well.

• Now add already mashed raw banana and mix well. Cook for 2-3 minutes and stir in between.

• Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

• Once it comes to room temperature, add 1 tbsp of besan (chickpeas flour) into it. Mix well. If you feel that to make proper dumplings you need more chickpeas flour you may add. But if it gets too dry you can use a little water to make a proper dough for dumplings/koftas.

• Heat oil in a pan or a kadai to deep fry the koftas, on a medium flame.

• Once oil gets hot add koftas one by one and deep fry on medium fry till they gets golden brown from all the sides. Turn them around in between so that all sides gets same colour.

• Do not fry on high flame otherwise koftas turns into golden brown from outside but will not be cooked properly from inside.

• Drain the excess oil from the koftas and transfer them over a kitchen tissue paper/absorbent paper.

• Repeat the same process with the remaining koftas.

For Kofta Curry/Gravy

• Take onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and green chillies in a blender or grinder and make a smooth puree. You may add a little water to make a puree.

• Heal oil in a pan or a kadai, on a medium flame. When the oil gets hot, add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

• Now add already prepared puree into it.

• Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder (optional), garam masala, coriander powder into it. Mix it well.

• Cook it and stir occasionally till it starts to leave oil. 

• Add 1/2 cup of water and mix well. Cook it for 4-5 minutes on a slow flame.

• Now add 2-3 cups of water or as per the gravy you want to make and bring it to boil.

• Simmer for 10 minutes on a medium flame. Then add deep fries koftas into it and simmer again for 5 minutes on a slow flame.

• Raw banana kofta curry is ready. Turn off the flame.

• You may garnish it with finely chopped fresh coriander leaves.

For Plain Rice

• Wash rice properly until the water runs clear. Soak them for at least 15 minutes.

• Take a large saucepan, add water to it. Bring it to a boil. For every cup of rice, use approximately 1¾ cups of water.

• Now add 1 tsp of salt and you may add oil or butter into the water. Oil/Butter is optional.

• Add rice to the boiling water.

• Stir once to separate any clumps.

• Cover the pan with a lid and let the rice cook on low flame for about 18 minutes.

• Then remove them from the heat and allow the rice to steam in the pot for another 5 minutes.

• Remove the lid and fluff with a fork to separate the grains.

• Hot plain rice is ready to serve with delicious raw banana kofta curry.

• Serve hot and enjoy.