Ghia Kofta in a red Punjabi sauce

Serves: 4

Total cost: 1.85 zl per person (37 pence, 43 Euro cents, 56 US cents)

What on earth is a Ghia Kofta? I remember seeing the word "Ghia" on the back of Fords... Ghia means "bottle gourd" in Hindi, I do believe, but I still don't see the connection with cars. It's a kind of squash we don't have in Europe. So, I'm using yellow courgette instead. A kofta is a ball of some kind which is cooked or deep fried. I'll be deep frying today. 

Ghia Kofta = spicy deep fried yellow courgette balls

Yum! And it's vegan! When you think "vegan", a lot of people's next thought would be "bland!" or "why?" or "Oh no! A soya burger!"

Well, this dish is definitely not bland; au contraire! It's got a kick like a mule! And there's no soya in sight.

So let's get cracking!

You'll need for the koftas":

- 1/2 yellow courgette

- a small onion

- a square inch of ginger

- 1 finely chopped green chilli

- 1/2 teaspoon baking power

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

- 1/4 teaspoon red chilli powder

- 1 teaspoon coriander powder

You'll need for the red Punjabi sauce:

- 1 green chilli

- 2 cloves garlic

- a square inch of ginger

- 2 medium onions

- 2 teaspoons cashew nuts 

- 1 tin of tomatoes

- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

- 1 teaspoon coriander powder

- 1 teaspoon paprika powder

- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder (Deggi Mirch)

- salt to taste

- 2 teaspoons crushed fenugreek leaves (kasouri methi)

Let's make the sauce first!

1. Soak the cashew nuts in a little water for 30 minutes. Then blend in a coffee grinder to a fine paste adding a little water if necessary

2. Roughly pound the ginger, garlic and green chilli in a pestle and mortar

3. Slice the onions and fry in a little vegetable oil and salt till golden, then whizz in a blender to make a smooth white paste

4. Whizz up the tin of tomatoes in a blender

You should now have a collection of ingredients which looks something like this:

So let's rock!

5. Heat some veg oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds when hot. When the seeds start to crackle a bit, add the garlic/ ginger/ chilli and cook for a few minutes.

6. Add the turmeric

7. Add the tomatoes and the ground spices. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat.

8. Add the cashew paste

9. Add the onion paste

10. Stir well and throw in the fenugreek leaves. Cover and simmer for another few minutes. It's ready!

Now for the koftas!

1. Grate the courgette and squeeze out the excess water by pressing the courgette between the palms of your hands

2. Finely chop or grate the onion

3. Mince the ginger with a fine grater

You'll have a collection of ingredients like this:

4. Sieve around 2-3 tablespoons of gram flour into a bowl

5. Add the ingredients

6. Mash together with your hand

7. Sieve some extra flour if it's too runny. What you're after is a soft, wet dough-like texture. Not to firm, not too runny.

8. Heat some oil in a wok for deep frying. Form balls of the mixture with your hands and drop into the oil when hot enough. To find the right temperature for the oil, drop in a tiny sliver of courgette while the oil is heating up. When the sliver rises to the surface and starts to bubble, the oil is the right temperature. After dropping in the balls, turn the heat down to medium - it's important to cook the balls through without burning the outside and leaving a raw inside.

9. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve with the sauce and rice

An alternative to this version uses red onion instead of white and some rice flour instead of the baking powder:

What does all this cost?

- 1/2 yellow courgette - 1 zl

- onions - 0.20 zl

- ginger/ garlic - 0.10 zl

- 2 green chillis - 0.40 zl

- spices - 0.30 zl

- oil - 1.5 zl

- cashew nuts - 0.40 zl

- 1 tin of tomatoes - 1.90 zl

- 200g rice (for 4 people) - 1.60 zl

Total cost: 7.40 zl

Cost per person: 1.85 zl

How much would this cost where you live?