I was leaving work last week when my kitchen manager insisted that I take a sac of mini red potatoes home. I told him he was crazy, and that I didn't have space for them. I also didn't know what to do with so many potatoes that are too small to peel. They are good for roasting but I can only eat so many roasted potatoes.
I compromised and took a large amount after he told me he would have to throw them away. They are no longer part of our menu. I couldn't bare the thought of seeing them in the garbage.
So I had a huge mound of little red potatoes.
This was just a few of them!
I thought of things to do with them that would be more exciting then roasted or boiled.
Long ago I went over the border to New York state. We went to a balloon festival. It was like a country fair as well. I noticed some food stands sold what they called salt potatoes. They were mini potatoes boiled in salty water then coated in butter. They were put in a cardboard container like fries go into. People walked around eating them like chips. I tried some and found it quite boring. I thought it was the strangest thing to have at a festival when there was all this junk food.
I thought I would give salt potatoes another try with vegan butter. I must be spoiled with flavors. All I can say is "snoozers".
My favorite foods consist of many items from different cultures but I have to say the Asian tastes keep pulling me in. I have much to explore.
Yesterday I made something that I have heard of over and over in my life. Malai Kofta. This is an Indian dish of potato balls and paneer, in a curry gravy. I never liked paneer even when I ate dairy so this version of Malai kofta was perfect. I substituted tofu for paneer. There are many recipes for this that vary so I used the ingredients that I had, liked, and was convenient for me to represent this dish.
The store across the street didn't have firm tofu that was plain. I prefer to use plain tofu but conveniently enough one of the flavors was Indian masala which I never noticed before. I took it home and ground it up to add to the mix.
I generally never measure ingredients. I just eyeball and throw it in. I have found that in most cases following a recipe doesn't always result in what I personally like. The recipe here is the approximate amounts of what I used.
Kofta
4 cups grated cooked potatoes. (Don't overcook too much)
1 grated cooked carrot
A small handful of chopped cilantro
1 brick of tofu minced, ground or broken by hand
1 cup ground roasted cashews
Around 1 cup chickpea flour. (Use rice or corn if you want)
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon pepper
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon minced ginger
There are many variations which often have fresh green chili in them and green peas. I didn't have green chilies but I had red so I put it in the sauce. I didn't put the green peas in the balls, but I added them to the sauce instead, just because.
For the curry gravy I used fresh tomatoes but canned would work fine as well.
Curry gravy
4 or 5 Roma tomatoes chopped
1 diced onion
3 cloves garlic minced
1 chili pepper
1 teaspoon minced ginger
2 bay leaves
2 whole cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon mango powder
1 teaspoon fenugreek (leaves are supposed to be good as well but I haven't seen that here)
Juice of a lemon
salt to taste
1 cup plant milk (I used soy)
1/2 cup ground roasted cashews (you can use whole as well since everything will be blended)
1 cup vegan cashew cream
Fry the spices and bay leaves in oil until fragrant then add onion and garlic. Add the other ingredients and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked.
When everything is cooked, blend it until smooth.
Mean while form the kofta mix into balls and set the oven to 350f. Many people just bake them to avoid oil.
I usually like to limit frying but in this case I wanted to have a more authentic experience. I compromised by frying them until they were golden then placed them in the oven to cook for around twenty minutes or so.
When they are out of the oven, place them in the sauce and serve with naan or rice. I was in the mood for basmati.
I garnish with cashew cream and ground toasted cashews.
This turned out to be one of those things that you want more of shortly after you eat it.
A friend of mine used to say "you know what this tastes like"? I would say "what"? and she would answer "it tastes like more".
Have a good week everyone!