Anjali's Food Kaleidoscope

Minty cottage cheese dumplings in tangy tomato sauce /  Hara paneer Kofta
Serves 4-5 

There is something so fresh about mint that whenever I use it for my cooking or just simply taking the leaves off the stalks, the whole kitchen is filled with such invigorating freshness . I love mint chutneys and it goes so well with yogurt in case you are making raita or buttermilk.

     I have used a little amount of the two herbs which I feel have a magical effect on any recipe. It blends so well with cottage cheese and the pishta green colour of the dumplings is so irresistible that one can polish off quite a few just while frying them for the main recipe.

    Mashed cottage cheese blended with fresh herbs , deep fried and immersed in a tangy red tomato sauce and savoured with plain rice or better still pooris or simply rotis , a chatpati potato curry and boondi raita is my definition of a feast .

   Here is how you can treat yourself to a delicious meal especially during the hot summer months when one has little appetite.

Ingredients:

1.   400 grams cottage cheese

2.   10 grams each of mint leaves and coriander leaves ( about a handful each)

3.   1 tablespoon grated ginger

4.   1 small onion chopped fine and one small green chilli

5.   200 ml tetra pack of tomato puree ( I used kissan)

6.   250 – 300 ml water

7.   One large onion minced fine with two tablepsoons water

8.   ¼ th teaspoon turmeric powder

9.   Salt to taste

10.                1 level teaspoon black pepper powder

11.                  Three fourth teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder

12.                 2 tablespoons cornflour

Method:

1.  Place the cottage cheese along with the fresh herbs in a food processor or the regular mixer jar and blend till the cottage cheese crumbles and mixes well with the herbs , the cottage cheese will resemble bread crumbs at this stage.

2.   Place the mixture in a flat dish and mix and mash with the ginger ,onion , green chilli and cornflour till the mixture sticks together into a dough.

3.   Make balls a little bigger than a walnut , roll them on breadcrumbs and refrigerate for about half an hour.

4.   You can make bread crumbs in a jiffy with a few rusk slices  ( I use Britannia) , just crush them with the kitchen rolling pin , will take a few seconds and collect in a plate.

5.   Deep fry the cottage cheese balls on high flame for just about half a minute till golden brown. Remember the dumplings are very soft and have to be cooked on high flame so that they cook fast and don’t disintegrate in the oil , in case that happens , roll them I some cornflour before putting them in the oil.Place the dumplings in a flat serving dish.

6.   For the sauce / curry , take a medium onion , mince with a few tablespoons of water and cook in oil till brown on a medium flame. you could season the oil with a teaspoon of cumin seeds before that.

7.   Stir in the turmeric and follow by the tomato water mixture.

8.   Dilute the tomato puree with the water and pour the solution into the pan , give a stir, let it boil well.

9.   Season with salt, black pepper and cumin powder.

10.                Pour the sauce over the dumplings / koftas which have been arranged in a flat dish.

11.                At first it might seem as if the sauce is too much  , but within a few minutes the koftas / dumplings will soak the sauce.

12.                Serve hot with rice or like I did , with pooris.