Malai Kofta with Butternut squash |

I like cooking and so does Roberto. Then mabye it is not so strange that Iris also likes to cook. She loves to hang out in the kitchen and help with everything from baking bread to chopping vegetables. She even got a real kitchen knife ( for children ) and a chefs hat for her birthday. At the moment Iris is working on a recipe involving banana and freezer and she tells me that when she is fully happy with it I can put it here on the blog. That might take a while though…

I find cooking very relaxing. I like that it involves all five senses. When I cook I become completely caught up in what I am doing and all bad thoughts flies away.

Indian food is one of my favourites. The recipe I am sharing with you today is a good one. It is quite easy to make even though it doesn’t appears to be. Try it, you will not regret it!

Malai Kofte with Butternut Squash

Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

For the kofta

I small to medium size butternut squash
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes
5-6 tbsp chickpea flour ( besan )
salt to taste ( I used 1/2 tsp )
Oil for deep frying

For the sauce
1 big bay leaf
2 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 tsp cinnamon powder
4 black peppercorn
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Instead of the spices above, you can use 1 tbsp of the spicemix garam masala

2 big onions
4-5 cloves of garlic
3 fresh tomatoes
1-2 green chilis
2 cm ginger
2 1/2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup ( or a little more than 1 dl ) cream
2 cups of water ( or 4.5 dl of water )
1/4 cup ( or a little more than 1/2 dl ) olive oil
salt to taste ( I used approximately 1 tsp )

Method:

Kofta
Grate the butternut squash and place in a bowl. Crush fennel and coriander seeds and add it to the squash together with the chickpea flour and the salt. Mix it thoroughly and shape balls in the size of a big meatball. Deep fry them until they look nice and brown. Let them rest on a piece of paper towel to drain the extra oil.

Sauce
Grind the bay leaves, cardamom ( take the seeds out of the pod ), cloves, peppercorn and cumin to a powder. Mix with the cinnamon and set aside. Chop the onion, garlic and ginger and fry it in oliveoil. Fry it on medium heat until it starts to become brown. In the meantime cut the tomatoes in small dices. Now add tomatoes, salt, coriander and turmeric to the onions and cook until all the liquid in the tomatoes and onions has evaporated. When all the liquid has evaporated mix it in a blender until you have a smooth puré. Put it back in the saucepan and add 2 cups of water and let it zimmer 5-10 minutes. Now you add the cream and the grinded spicemix ( or the garam masala spicemix ). Let it zimmer again for some minutes and add more water if you like it a bit thinner. Throw in the kofta balls and give it a quick boil. Serve it with rice or indian bread, naan or chapatis. Enjoy!