Toor Dal Koftas In Spinach Sauce

Last week when we all went Diwali shopping, it got v late, so decided to have dinner at a restaurant and that too an Indian one! You are wondering why I should be amazed about that! Oh well, thats cos in the last 1 and a half years of my stay in US we have gone to only 2 Indian restaurants. Period. Reason, hubby prefers my cooking.(blush) So on days when we are on road trips/vacations we usually prefer other cuisine based restaurants. So, we went to this Indian buffet and food was awesome. My hubby saw this one dish with boiled eggs in a gravy and was like I want that. My in-laws were aghast and said no eggs near us...go eat somewhere else and come! Poor hubby said Ok and left it and asked me to make it later in their absence :)

ok..ok..I bugged u enough with the story, what I wanted to ask was doesnt this Pic luk like eggs in a gravy ? :)



But .No they are not eggs! They are just toor dal with spinach :). Yday, i had fresh bunch of baby spinach which I wanted to make. MIL wanted dal. Hubby said he wanted Kofta! what do I do? and Ya i dint like to cook for a long while! Result, I came up with Toor Dal Kofta in Spinach sauce which will be my entry for Linda's JFI Toor Dal.

My hubby was asking me if I am not confusing everything I make ,with events in the blogosphere. With the no. of events thats coming up, its actually sometimes serves as a boon cos almost every dish I make somehow gets linked to some event or the other. Like this Toor Dal!!!!
I dont think, I have to elaborate on the benefits of this dish much..

1. Toor Dal is Vegetarian's Protein and is a staple in Indian cooking.Along with Protien its also rich in dietary fiber, vitamin B1, and minerals.
   
   
2. While Spinach is loaded with calcium, folic acid, vitamin K ,iron, Vitamin C, fiber and carotenoids. Add its lutein and bioflavanoids and spinach is a nutritional powerhouse.
   

These two cooked with no added fat ( these Koftas are steamed not fried ), you have a complete healthy meal. This is one Kofta I can bite into with a smile, without worrying about the extra 15min at Gym.

Ingredients

For Spinach Sauce

• a bunch of spinach (as per ur req!I used approx amt.)
  
  
• 1 cup buttermilk
  
  
• 1 tsp sugar and salt to taste
  

To be grinded into a paste

• 2-3 cloves garlic
  
  
• grated 25mm ginger
  
  
• 1 green chilli or as per ur taste
  
  
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
  
  
• 1 tbsp poppy seeds
  
  
• 1 tbsp cashewnuts
  
  
• 1 tsp aniseed
  

For the Koftas

• 1 cup toor dal ( yellow lentil ), soaked in warm water for minimum 30min
  
  
• 1 medium onion
  
  
• grated ginger
  
  
• some corainder leaves
  
  

Method

1.Drain the toor dal well.



2.Saute the onions,ginger and chilly in little oil ( Pam Spray should do ) with salt.



This step is not necc. but I find raw onions here little sharp and strong,so saute it first. You can skip this step and go to next straightaway.

3.Grind corainder leaves, onions,ginger with Toor dal with no water. It should be a coarse paste with salt, if not added before.



4.Make balls out of them and steam in a cooker. Make sure not to oversteam since it can get v hard. Cool and keep aside.

5.Wash the spinach and blanch them in water for 2-3 min. Liquidise it in a blender.

6.Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the grinded paste to it. Cook for a while.



7.Add the spinach along with curd,salt and sugar. Simmer for 5-8 min.



8.Place the steamed balls in a plate



and pour the gravy on top.



9.Serve it with rice/chapathi. No fat, no extra baggage! Just health written all over it - dont you think ? :)