kanchakolar Koftar malaikari / Green Banana Koftas cooked in coconut milk gravy

Kanchakolar kofta or green banana kofta curry is a very common item in any Bong kitchen. Usually, no part of the Banana tree is discarded...Each has its own use. The stem, the blossom and of course the fruit are very much savoured in our kitchen. Banana leaves are used in some types of cuisine and is also used for serving food. They contain lot of health benefits. They are rich sources of calcium, potassium, vitamin C, Iron to name a few. 

Green banana is used in a varied way in Indian cuisine. Even the peel of boiled green banana can be made a delicious curry.

As I have mentioned already, koftas made with green banana ,known as Kanchakolar kofta is a favourite among Bongs. Usually,the bananas are boiled,mixed with some spices,fried into koftas and made a curry using different spices. There are usually two versions of this curry...the veg one is made with coriander,cumin and ginger paste and onion paste is added in the the non veg version. In Bengal, Onion and garlic are considered non vegetarian.

This time,while making these koftas, I thought of making it in a little different style....not the usual one described above 😀. Than I came up with the idea of cooking them in a mild gravy,which will be milk based and a little sweetish in taste. So, I made this Malaikari of the raw banana koftas,the main ingredient of which is, coconut milk. I have added a little cashew paste to make the gravy thicker and creamier. I have used very little spice here...and believe me,it came out really really tasty . 

So,here is the recipe.....

Ingredients : 

• Green / raw banana - 4
• Potato - 1 medium
• Besan / Gram flour - 2 tbsp
• Onion - 2 medium and 1 big
• Ginger paste - 3 tsp
• green chillies - 6/7 (slit)
• Chilli powder - half tsp
• salt and sugar - to taste (the gravy should be a little on the sweeter side)
• Thick coconut milk - 1 cup (I have used nestle coconut milk powder...mixed 2 tbsp in a cup of warm water +normal milk)
• Unsalted cashew - 10/12 (soak in water for an hour and then grind to a fine paste )
• Ghee - 2 tsp
• Oil - to fry and to cook ( Usuallly,these koftas are deep fried. But I made them in an Appe pan,which reduced the amount of oil used to a great extent. In an appe pan, you just brush with very little oil and get equally good soft koftas ) 

Process.....

• Cut the bananas and the potato into half and boil them in pressure cooker. Discard water ,cool and peel them. Mash them and keep aside.
• Chop 1 medium sized onion very finely
• In a big bowl, mix the chopped onion, 1 tsp ginger paste, salt and a little sugar, gram flour, chilli powder and the banana potato mixture. You can add 1 tsp finely chopped green chilli also. Now, with hand or a hand masher,mix all the ingredients nicely and make a smooth dough.
• Make small balls from this mixture and fry them. Usually,they are deep fried. I have used Appe pan,to reduce the amount of oil.
• Get the coconut milk ready.
• Cut the big onion into thin slices , make beresta (deep and crispy fried onion) and keep aside.
• Cut the other medium sized onion and boil it in a little water. after it is boiled,cool it and grind it to a fine paste. as this dish is whitish in colour ,we shall be using boiled onion paste,so that,we don't need to cook it for long and make it brown.

Let us start the cooking now...

• Heat 1 tbsp oil and 1 tsp ghee in a pan.
• Add the boiled onion paste and fry for a couple of minutes.
• Add the remaining ginger paste,salt and sugar and cook for a few more minutes,till the raw smell of ginger is gone.
• Add coconut milk,stir and cook for 2/3 minutes.
• When it starts to boil, add the cashew paste and let it cook. Add a little warm water...depending on what type and quantity of gravy you want. The gravy should not be runny,rather,it will be thick and creamy.
• Check seasoning...add salt or sugar,if needed.
• Add the koftas and let it boil for a couple of minutes.
• Add the remaining 1 tsp ghee and slit green chillies. Cover and switch the gas off.
• after 2/3 minutes of standing time, pour the malaikari into a serving dish, sprinkle the beresta over it and serve.
• This dish goes very well with naan, paratha,rice or pulao.