Vegetarian Kofta Curry Recipe (2024)

I haven't made the recipe yet, but there was no place to compliment Tejal Rao on her beautiful remembrance of her grandfather, a man who took his time to do every little task with love and care. It made me tear up, it was so lovely. I'll make this recipe, but first I had to say thank you.

I believe you can use ground flaxseed meal w/a bit of water for the egg replacement in this recipe. It’s stated on the Bob’s Red Mill pkg, bottom right.

If I used one bunch of cilantro and mint from my vegetable store I'd end up with probably 2 cups cilantro and 4 cups mint... I assume this is not what is intended here. Better give a rough measure.

We found this awful. It doesn't taste "Indian" at all, and we followed the recipe to the letter. Needs way more marsala, cumin and coriander potentially, but it tasted like pasta sauce with black bean meatballs. It was far simpler than most indian recipes I've tied, which may have been part of the problem. I don't have much advice except to say there are WAY better kofta recipes out there. Don't use this one. It's so americanized it hurts.

Please share your grandfather's recipe! He sounds like a gem.

This was a hit. I didn’t have bread crumbs so I crumbled oats. I didn’t want to buy mint so I used Thai basil from my garden. Tripled the garam masala because garam masala. I didn’t think they’d hold together in the oven because the beans were hard to smash but they worked. Served over brown rice, plopped some yogurt and garden cuke on top. Coulda used another jalapeño.

I followed the recipe exactly (it looked AMAZING), and the kofta is perfect. The sauce was so flavorful, the kofta balls were crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. I used about 1/2 cup each of cilantro and mint. Perfect. I am a vegetarian, I have just given up on things (like meatballs), but now I can put them back into my rotation. Thank you!

Yes, to make this kofta recipe vegan, you can use flax meal or chia seeds soaked for several minutes in water to replace the egg -- 1 tablespoon seed to 3 tablespoons water. Other egg replacer powders that contain arrowroot and potato starch, etc., can sometimes create a gum-like texture. I love kofta and can't wait to make this!

this was fragrant! would’ve liked more of a bite to the kofta but still very very delicious. perhaps some ground nuts next time. my garam masala needed extra cardamom, and i added a tablespoon of tomato paste. definitely a vegetarian dish to impress guests with.

Very tasty! The prep time is a little misleading. Allow at least 90 minutes to prepare this dish from the time you start prepping until it is ready to be served. We made raita (yogurt, cucumber, herbs, spices) to accompany it and would highly recommend serving it on the side, along with basmati rice. Make sure the bean balls have a nice crust on the outside - having the crunchy contrasting texture is great.

I used ~ 1 generous cup of cilantro leaves (pre-chopped) purchased, and ~ 1/3 whole mint leaves (pre-chopped) from the garden. I removed the long stems from the cilantro "bouquet" and chopped up the smaller stems along with the leaves. But I'd like to try a bit more of each next time.

A wonderful story about your grandfather. Reminded me of mine and the Finnan Haddie he would make that only the two of us would eat. Thanks.

You can also use chickpea flour (besan).

There is no such thing as too much cilantro in Indian food, in my opinion. I think you'd be perfectly fine using anything from a sprig to a bunch (a tbsp to 2 cups) in the recipe. Mint, being a stronger flavor, I'd say a half cup to a cup for this quantity. I'm assuming the cups you're talking about here is not chopped herbs but whole sprigs?

Tasty, but the cooking techniques suggested could have been improved. Using the food processor to make the paste just shot the ingredients up the side of the bowl and they never mixed. (I used the small bowl.) Immersion blender didn't work, either. I ended up using a knife. Also, the sauce takes longer to cook than the meatballs, so it would make more sense to start that first. I used parsley because I have the 'cilantro tastes like soap' gene.

These black bean kofta are excellent (the cilantro is a must!) but the sauce fell flat for me, reading more Italian than Indian. The kofta have been added to my regular rotation but I serve with a different sauce.

I followed the suggestion to triple the garam masala and also added a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon to the sauce (along with the cumin and coriander). I also added in half a red pepper (diced) and a second egg to the bean mix before forming balls. The result was terrific.

I totally agree about her moving account and tribute to her grandfather. I teared up also and went to the store for a few missing ingredients. I made the recipe that night and have many times since. I’m making it now and my kitchen smells so good!

Use garlic ginger sauceChili garlic sauce2 eggs not 1 Basil instead of fresh cilantro

It was pretty tasty, however, the kofta balls disintegrated when I flipped them in the sauce.

Meh... This was okay but I used a can of tomatoes for the sauce and it just overwhelmed all of the other flavors. I ate a kofta ball by itself without putting it in the tomato sauce and it was good. I think next time I'll use the kofta ball recipe I will use a different sauce recipe. Would be good with curry or cashew-based sauce.

This was very good. I ended up using a small food processor for the ginger and pepper mix. The normal size Cuisinart would be way too big. Then the bean mix was way too coarse to make I to balls so pulsed it with the big Cuisinart and it worked out great. Might be better with some more heat but I'll definitely make it again. Rice is also a good suggestion, we ate it as is.

Doubled the spices (added hot paprika) in the balls and the sauce, added an extra serrano, and had to use more breadcrumbs and an extra egg to get the balls to bind. Used fresh tomatoes, but will probably use canned next time since I think it’ll produce a richer flavor while it simmers. Would recommend adding some warming spice or garam masala to the sauce as well. Served with rice, topped with cilantro and lime. 4/5, very good!

Tejal, your recipe writing and writing in general is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing your memories and talents with your audience. Another winner with another wonderful story behind it.

This was EXCELLENT! We try various foods a lot and are used to delicious food so it’s hard to come close…this one hits perfect! I didn’t have any ginger so I subbed onions- it was still amazing! Hard to stop eating. Will def make again. Of course I increased all the herbs and seasoning as I always do—more garlic, more garam masala, more coriander, more cumin…everyone wanted more!

About a cup and a half of chopped cilantro and maybe 1/2 cup or less of chopped mint

Made exactly as written and it turned out lovely. Will definitely make again.

Really did not like. After all the prep and making adjustments per other commenters, it just was not very good. The kofta was not very good nor was the sauce which was too tomatoey.. Big bust for me.

if you cook this for an addtl. 15 minutes as suggested everything will fall apart :-( but tastes great

I was impressed with this recipe! I was worried that the ball mixture was too wet, but they dried out nicely in the oven. Sauce was great. Served over rice.