Vegan Kofta
Kofta is a ball of minced ingredients commonly found in Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisine. They can be served in a liquid sauce, broth, or as a popular street food version, as a filling in pita bread pockets, together with lettuce and other vegetables.
This version is made with zucchini, breadcrumbs, and spices. The consistency is soft enough that allows you to squash them into pita bread like you would do with falafels, but firm enough to also allow you to serve it as is or in a liquid type of sauce.
I topped it with coconut yogurt and thyme (mint is also an excellent choice) and buddha sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspon vegetable powder
- Pinch of garlic salt
- Pinch of pepper
- 5 cm piece of fresh ginger root
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 cup fresh parsley
- Toasted sesame oil
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 3 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Preparation
Peel the ginger and garlic, and thinly slice them. Heat a little toasted sesame seed oil in a sauce pan, heat to medium, and add the cumin seeds, ginger and garlic. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes (until golden) and then transfer to the blender’s cup. Mix with the blender.
Rinse and slice the zucchini, and add them to the blender’s cup. Add the fresh parsley and the rest of the spices. Coarsely grind them.
Finally, add the chickpeas and breadcrumbs and mix them with the zucchini mix. With your hands, shape the mixture into large fingers.
Bake for 20 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.
Serve with vegetables, buddha sauce, yogurt and thyme, or yogurt and mint, with or without pita bread.
