Paneer kala chana kofta curry or cottage cheese black chickpea dumpling in gravy.
A delicious and flavourful curry. You can serve it as a party side dish. Pairs well with any bread, pulao or steamed rice.
I always avoid to deep fry the kofta. So used my appe or paniyaram pan to make kofta. But you can deep fry or shallow fry if you want.
Along with paneer or cottage cheese used kala chana or black chickpeas to make kofta.
Black chickpeas, also known as Bengal grams, Garbanzo beans or ‘kala chana’ belong to the ‘desi’ variety and have a much higher fiber content and lower glycemic index. Being an extremely versatile legume, it is widely used in a variety of Middle Eastern and Indian dishes like falafels, hummus and curries as well as salads, soups and stews or even as a quick snack. In addition to their delicious nut like taste and buttery texture, black chickpeas are extremely beneficial for health.
Being low in fat, high in dietary fiber and rich in vitamins and minerals, black chickpeas can indeed be a healthy addition to your diet. Two to three tablespoons of these legumes are equivalent to one portion of the daily recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables. The health benefits of black chickpeas are as follows.
Aids in Weight Loss: …
Cardiovascular Benefits: …
Lowers Cholesterol: …
Stabilizes Blood Sugar and Low Glycemic Index (GI): …
Prevention of Diabetes: …
Great Source of Iron: …
Good Source of Protein for Vegetarians: …
Beneficial for Women:
Source
Gravy is rich creamy and superbly delicious. Used almonds to make the creamy texture. You can use cashew nuts if you like.
Recipe
For kofta
Kala chana – 1/2 cup
Paneer – 3/4 cup, crumbled
Potato – 1 large, boiled
Ginger – 1/2 inch piece
Green chilli – 1 – 2
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Cilantro or coriander leaves – 2 tablespoon, chopped
Cornflour – 2 tablespoon
For gravy
Onions – 2 chopped
Garlic – 3 – 4 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Green chilli – 2 – 3
Tomato – 3 medium
Almond – 2 tablespoon or 13 – 14
Cumin powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam masala powder – 1/2 teaspoon
Green cardamom – 3
Clove – 3
Cinnamon – 1 inch piece
Bay leaf – 1
Oil – 2 – 3 tablespoon
Ghee or clarified butter – 1 – 2 teaspoon, optional
Method
1. Wash and soak the kala chana or black chickpeas in sufficient water overnight.
2. Next day drain the water and grind the kala chana with ginger and green chilli.
3. Peel and mash or grate boiled potato.
4. In a large bowl mix ground mixture, crumbled paneer or cottage cheese, mashed boiled potato, cornflour, cumin powder, garam masala powder, chopped cilantro or coriander leaves and salt. Mix well and make small balls.
5. Heat an appe pan and grease all the moulds.
6. Place the balls in the moulds. Cover with lid and cook on low flame till the balls becomes golden brown.
7. Now turn the balls upside down and cook until golden brown.
8. Remove the pan from heat and keep aside.
9. Soak the almonds in hot water or microwave for 1 minute with water.
10. Grind onions, garlic, ginger and green chilli.
11. Wash the tomatoes. Cut slightly on the top. Make 2 cuts like a cross.
12. Heat water in a pan. When it starts to rolling boil slide the tomatoes in it.
Boil for 2 – 3 minutes. You can microwave for 4 minutes on high power.
13. Remove from heat. Dip the tomatoes in cold water and when the tomatoes cool down, peel and grind into a smooth paste.
14. Peel the soaked almonds. And grind it into a smooth paste. You can also grind the almonds with tomatoes.
15. Crush cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in a mortar pestle.
16. Heat oil in a pan. Add bay leaf and crushed cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
17. Stir and add ground onion, garlic ginger and green chilli. Fry till oil leaves the sides.
18. Add ground tomatoes and almond paste.
19. Add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and garam masala powder.
20. Saute till the mixture dried up and oil leaves the sides.
21. Add salt and water as require for the gravy.
22. When the gravy starts to boil add all the kofta.
23. Simmer for 8 – 10 minutes.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. Add more water if require.
24. At last add a dollop to ghee or clarified butter if using.
25. Garnish with cilantro or coriander leaves and onion rings.
Serve with roti, paratha, naan, pulao or steamed rice.
Notes
1. You can add 1 – 2 tablespoon cream if you like.
2. You can add finely chopped onion and garlic paste in the kofta or dumpling mixture.
3. You can use cashew nuts instead of almonds.
If you tried my recipe, you can share your food pictures with me in the social network sites by using hash tag, #batterupwithsujata
I would love to see your creations.
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Amazing recipe 🙂
Thanks a lot 😊
Koftas look so delicious and inviting.. I am coming to eat.
Thanks a lot dear. Please come over. I will make it for you again. It would be a great pleasure to meet you 😍
Seriously love the addition of kala channa in kofta, what an incredible nutritious addition to our usual paneer koftas. And that curry is simply irresistible.
Thanks a lot Priya 😍
A very unusual kofta recipe that too without frying..Good job. Going to make it for dinner tomorrow as my SILs are visiting us for Rakhi
Thanks a lot dear. Wow that’s great. Please let me know how it turns out 😍
I never thought of using the appe pan for making koftas! Such a healthy idea:-) and definitely adding the kala chana will make the koftas so much more healthier. One question, was soaking the kala chana overnight made them soft enough for koftas? did you not have to boil the kala chana at all? I am definitely going to try this trick next time I make kofta curry.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks a lot Ashima. Yes dear I didn’t boil them. You can boil it if you want. But taste may differ. Soaked kala chana is also very nutritious. Please do try and let me know how it turns out 😍
Wow. Paneer and Kala Chana Kofta Curry. Scrumptious and Nutritious recipe. I loved they way you pan fry the koftas. Your recipe is totally healthy and low fat version.
Adding kala chana to koftas is a brilliant suggestion and making it in an appe pan, extra healthy. Have to try this recipe out .
Thank you so much Mayuri 😊
Looks so healthy and nutritious yet creamy, rich and delicious. Cooking koftas in paniyaram pan is an added advantage of this healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing such a healthy recipe and brilliant idea of cooking koftas.
Thanks a lot Geetha 😊
I feel so lost without the appe pan now. I gave away mine while shifting and now I am missing these treats…love the colour of the gravy.
Thanks a lot Seema. Buy a new one again. I bought it from Amazon 😍
Combination of kala Chana and paneer is something really unique. The idea of using an appe pan makes again gives this dish a healthy twist. Truly a worth try recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Loved your healthy twist of frying the koftas in an appe pan, these koftas I must say looks better than any no veg version just lipsmacking good.
The black chana kofta with potato and panner is so innovative di ! Loved the healthy non fried appe pan version and the curry looks very inviting. Awesome share… bookmarking it di .
Thanks a lot Poonam 😍
Really they make a wonderful recipe and having used appe pan makes them less oily and healthy. Loved this recipe.
Thank you so much 😊
This looks so flavourful, addition of black chana is healthy and also the using of appe pan. Wonderrful share.
Thank you so much Jayashree 😊
Love kala chana recipes, and adding them into kofta recipes sounds so wonderful, thanks for sharing this delicious recipe, one more kofta curry to try this winter 🙂
Thanks a lot Jagruti. Glad you liked it 😍
Appam pan is a versatile gadget. Love it. Adding kala channa is interesting and I am sure it imparts a wonderful flavour to the dish.
Thank you so much Nisha 😊
tempting koftas. Love the texture of Appe pan koftas. thanks for sharing lovely recipe.. Superb.
Thanks a lot Ruchi 😍
Paneer and Kala Chana Koftas look absolutely lip smacking.I am a sucker for koftas and yours looks absolutely delish.
Thanks a lot Preethi 😊
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after looking at some of the articles I realized it’s new to me. Nonetheless, I’m certainly delighted I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!
Thank you!