Beetroot Kofta Curry
Apr 06, 2016, Updated May 09, 2022
Soft beetroot kofta served on top of a creamy tomato curry. Great with naan or rice!
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Want to eat something different for dinner? Then try this Beetroot Kofta Curry! Vegetarian beetroot dumplings served on top of a creamy tomato curry. Great with naan or rice!
How much is too much when it comes to kitchen utensils, appliances and gadgets? I guess this is a difficult question to answer especially when you are a food blogger. If you are a food blogger, then probably it’s never too much. I can’t even begin to list all that I have from pots to juicers to blenders to food processors to waffle makers and the list goes on. And don’t even get me started on the baking stuff, just don’t! To give you an idea, I have like 5 sets of measuring spoons, I don’t even know why! I really try to control my temptations but more often than not I give up. I have so many pots and pan, even then this weekend I was just on the verge of buying the entire all clad stainless steel set. But I didn’t! Somehow I stopped myself but I know it isn’t going to last very long.
Few days back my little food processor broke. I have a huge processor too but obviously I find my little one very handy and always use it. Now for 2 days, I really felt handicapped. It’s not that I can’t function without if but in between I wanted to make this beetroot kofta and I didn’t want to hand grate the carrots and beets. I know, I could have but I chose to wait till my new food processor arrived. And as soon as I got it, I made this gorgeous looking kofta curry. It’s the besides the point that I cut my finger with the new food processor blade and then couldn’t cook anything for the rest of the day!!
Anyway I have often heard people say beets are boring. Now people look at my beetroof kofta curry, does it look boring to you? I don’t think so!
In India, we make a lot of koftas, which are basically savory dumplings made with either veggies or chicken and simmered in a creamy curry. The most popular one is malai kofta which is basically koftas made with paneer, potatoes nuts and then served over a creamy curry. To change things a bit, I made koftas with beetroot! I mean why not right? These pretty pink koftas are made with roasted beets, potatoes, carrots, some raisins and cashews and of course spices. Usually koftas are deep fried however I shallow fried them in a pan. Since the beets were already roasted, they tasted great even without the frying.
I used a simple tomato curry here, you can change it according to your taste. Like you can add onions to the curry or you can make it richer and creamier by adding cashews to it. Either way, it would be great because the betroot koftas are the real star of this dish. Hope you guys enjoy this dish as much as we did!
Method
Make the beetroot kofta first. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Wash and pat dry the beetroots, wrap them in aluminium foil and place on the baking tray. Roast the beets in a 400 F degrees pre heated oven for 30 minutes or until softened. I didn’t want the beets too soft for these koftas plus the beets I used were medium sized so 30 minutes was perfect for me. If you are using larger beets, you might need to roast them for 40 minutes or so. Once roasted, take the pan out of the oven, let them cool down a bit and then remove the beets from aluminium foil and peel the skin using a peeler.
Now run the peeled and roasted beets into a food processor till finely grated. Set aside.
Add a teaspoon of oil to a pan on medium heat and then add freshly minced ginger-garlic and green chili paste. Please use fresh paste! Sauce for a minutes and then add the spring onion greens. Cook for 30 seconds.
Add the grated beets and mix well.
Now add the boiled & mashed potatoes, shredded carrots and salt. Mix till everything is well combined.
Add garam masala, cumin powder, lemon juice, chopped cashews and raisins.
Finally add cornstarch. I recommend starting with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and add more only if needed to bind the koftas.
Shape the mixture into 8 equals koftas. I made them oval, you may make them round.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the koftas to the pan carefully. Cook for 2 minutes from one side and then flip and cook till the other side gets golden brown spots. Remove the koftas from pan and drain on a kitchen towel. Set aside.
To prepare the curry cut 4-5 large tomatoes into quarters and add to the pan. Add ginger, garlic, green chili, green cardamom and peppercorn. Add around 2.5 cups water and let it all simmer for 20-25 minutes.
After 20-25 minutes, tomatoes would really soften. Switch off the heat, remove the skin of the green cardamom and using an immersion blender, blend the curry till smooth. You may also your regular blender here.
Now put the pan back on heat again. Add salt, coriander powder, kashmiri red chili powder and garam masala. Let it simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Add butter, coconut milk and cream. Let the curry simmer for further 5 minutes.
Add honey, crushed kasuri methi and mix and let the curry simmer till it becomes slightly thick.
Sprinkle cardamom powder and garam masala powder on top and let is simmer for 2 more minutes. Remove curry from heat.
To serve the beetroot kofta curry, ladle the curry into your serving bowl and then place the beetroot kofta on top. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice or any Indian bread. It would be great with butter naan!
* To make it VEGAN: simply skip the butter and cream and the rest of the recipe remains same.
* To make the curry creamier, add more butter and heavy cream to it. You may also add some nuts to make it creamier.
* Don’t add more cornstarch than required. Start with 1 tablespoons and then add more only if aren’t able to bind the koftas.
* You also also boil the beets in place of roasting them. I love roasted beets so went ahead with that for this recipe.
Beetroot Kofta Curry
Ingredients
- 4-5 large tomatoes
- 2.5 -3 cups water
- 3 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger roughly chopped
- 2 green chili roughly chopped
- 5 green cardamom pods
- 3 peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1/4 cup coconut milk or use regular milk
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kasmiri red chili powder
- salt to taste
Kofta
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 2-3 teaspoons ginger-garlic-green chili paste freshly minced
- 1/4 cup grated carrots from 2 medium carrots
- 1 cup grated beets from 2 medium beets
- 2 medium potatoes boiled & mashed
- 2-3 spring onions greens chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped cashews
- 1 tablespoon raisins
- 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch add more as required
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to shallow fry the koftas
to sprinkle
- cardamom powder
- garam masala
- cilantro
Instructions
Make the beetroot kofta
- Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Wash and pat dry the beetroots, wrap them in aluminium foil and place on the baking tray. Roast the beets in a 400 F degrees pre heated oven for 30 minutes or until softened. If you are using larger beets, you might need to roast them for 40 minutes or so.
- Once roasted, take the pan out of the oven, let them cool down a bit and then remove the beets from aluminium foil and peel the skin using a peeler.
- Now run the peeled and roasted beets into a food processor till finely grated. Set aside.
- Add a teaspoon of oil to a pan on medium heat and then add freshly minced ginger-garlic and green chili paste.
- Sauce for a minutes and then add the spring onion greens. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the grated beets and mix well.
- Now add the boiled & mashed potatoes, shredded carrots and salt. Mix till everything is well combined.
- Add garam masala powder, cumin powder, lemon juice, chopped cashews and raisins.
- Finally add cornstarch. I recommend starting with 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and add more only if needed to bind the koftas.
- Shape the mixture into 8 equals koftas. I made them oval, you may make them round.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the koftas to the pan carefully.
- Cook for 2 minutes from one side and then flip and cook till the other side gets golden brown spots. Remove the koftas from pan and drain on a kitchen towel. Set aside.
Make the curry
- To prepare the curry cut 4-5 large tomatoes into quarters and add to the pan. Add ginger, garlic, green chili, green cardamom and peppercorn. Add around 2.5 -3 cups water and let it all simmer for 20-25 minutes.
- After 20-25 minutes, tomatoes would really soften. Switch off the heat, remove the skin of the green cardamom and using an immersion blender, blend the curry till smooth. You may also your regular blender here.
- Now put the pan back on heat again. Add salt, coriander powder, kashmiri red chili powder and garam masala. Let it simmer on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add butter, coconut milk and cream. Let the curry simmer for further 5 minutes.
- Add honey, crushed kasuri methi and mix and let the curry simmer till is becomes little thick.
- Sprinkle cardamom powder and garam masala powder on top and let is simmer for 2 more minutes. Remove curry from heat.
- To serve the beetroot kofta curry, ladle the curry into your serving bowl and then place the beetroot kofta on top. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with rice or any Indian bread.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Beetroot Kofta Curry
Nutrition Facts show 13g of saturated fat. Pls tell me how it can be lowered. Thanks Manali.
skip the cream, you can use yogurt in place. You can use lite coconut milk in stead and can ever bake your koftas. Having said that, the nutrition info is calculated by an app automatically so you have to take it with a pinch of salt. It’s just an estimate. hope that helps
Hi, I hope you can answer 🙂
I have been waiting for a chance to make this recipe for along time and I finally did, I did as instructed but for some reason the Beetroot mass (wich was very tasty) didn’t bind and it remind mushy after I pan fried the koftas, I tried adding more cornstarch but it didn’t work.
what do you think happened?
hmm the only reason I can think is that the moisture didn’t dry out completely. You should have sauteed the beetroot more until the moisture dried out. I see no other reason why it wouldn’t bind otherwise…
thank you for answering 🙂
I will try again!
*URGENT*
I need to make this for a party on monday, and I won’t be in town on Sunday, is there any way I could make the kofta ahead of time on Saturday and freeze them until monday? If so, what will be the best way of reheating them?
Prachi put them in a ziplock bag and freeze, it should be okay. Put them straight in the curry on monday and let it simmer for good 20 minutes on low heat. It should be okay. Or you can re heat then in the oven..at 350 F degrees for 15 minutes. Hope this helps and you enjoy them!
Will the taste and texture definitely not be affected? Also, they wouldn’t break right?
Sorry for the late reply Prachi, I was travelling. I don’t think taste and texture will be different. I would say heat the frozen kofta in the oven first, and then put in the gravy to simmer.
Thank you Asha!
Color of the kota and the gravy is a nice combination and my favorite combo. Iam stuck in that platter. You have made a brilliant combo
Looks so creamy, delicious and gorgeous. So innovative. Recipe is loaded with full of flavors. Loved it!
Thank you Dannii! 🙂 I love the pink too!
Thank you Medha! 🙂
Thanks Ami, you must make them! 🙂
Love the contrasting colors. Looks delicious and healthy. Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks Ruchi!