Someone asked me about this recipe, so here it is. We make a big batch of the balls and freeze them, when courgettes are taking over the world.
Serve with something like Roghan Josh and rice. This is a really tasty, special dish (and not spicy hot, really).
COURGETTE BALLS
Madhur Jaffrey’s Eastern Vegetarian Cooking, p. 41
Serves 4-6
For the balls:
3 medium-sized courgettes (about 1-1¼ lb / 450-560 g)
½ Tsp salt
About 1 fresh hot green chilli, finely chopped
3 Tbsp finely chopped onion
½ Tsp peeled and very finely grated fresh ginger
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh green coriander
1½ oz / 45 g gram flour
Vegetable oil for deep frying
For the sauce:
3 Tbsp vegetable oil from deep frying
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and very finely chopped
¼ Tsp ground turmeric
1/16 Tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
2 tsp ground coriander seeds,
½ lb / 225 g tomatoes (about 2 tomatoes), peeled and finely chopped
8 fl oz / ¼ l single cream
½ tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
¼ - 1/3 tsp salt
Wash, trim, and grate the courgettes. Put them into a bowl and sprinkle them with the 1/2 tsp salt. Set them aside for half an hour.
Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the courgettes by pressing handfuls between your two palms. Save this courgette liquid for the sauce. Dry off the bowl and put the courgettes back in it. Add the chopped chilli (you may want to use more than 1 chilli, depending on your taste), the 3 Tbsp chopped onion, the grated ginger, and the fresh coriander. Sift the gram flour over this vegetable mixture. Mix well and form 12 neat balls.
In a frying pan, wok, or other utensil for deep frying, heat about l½ in/ 4 cm of oil over a medium flame (a wok should have 1½ in / 4 cm at its centre). When hot, put in 5 to 6 of the balls, or as many as the utensil will hold easily in one layer. Fry for about 1½ minutes, or until the balls turn a rich, reddish-brown colour. Turn the balls every now and then as they fry. Remove them with a slotted spoon when they are done and leave to drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper. Do all the balls this way.
To make the sauce, remove 5 Tbsp of the oil used in deep frying and put this in a 10 in / 25 cm frying or sauté pan. Heat the oil over a medium flame. When hot, put in the finely chopped onions. Stir and fry for 7 to 8 minutes or until the onions begin to turn brown at the edges. Take the pan off the fire for a couple of seconds and add the turmeric, cayenne, ground cumin, and ground coriander. Stir once and put the pan back on the fire. Stir for another 5 seconds and then add the chopped tomatoes. Stir and fry on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the courgette juice. (You need 8 fl oz / ¼ l; if you have less, add some water.) Bring to the boil. Cover, lower heat and let the sauce simmer gently for 15 minutes. (This much of the recipe may be prepared several hours ahead of time.) Add the cream, garam masala, ground roasted cumin, and the ¼ to 1/3 Tsp salt. Mix well, bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Now put in the balls. Spoon the sauce over them. Cover, and simmer very gently for 6 to 7 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the balls a few times during this cooking period.
These balls turn very soft when cooked in the sauce, so handle them gently and serve immediately.
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December 20, 2012, 16:04