What a week it has been, right?! Still in quarantine lock up and pyjamas surviving on whatever is in the fridge and coming up with insane I mean REALLY GOOD combinations on the plate! This salad bowl came to life with exactly with whatever I had in the fridge and let me just say – foraging our fridge sometimes give birth to amazing, healthy and delicious food.

Typically, Koftas are eaten in an Indian household with a rich gravy/sauce but with the temperatures rising and so is the weight in this household, we decided to skip the rich aromatic gravy and added some greens.

Beetroot boost the immune system and that makes these koftas a great recipe for lunch or an evening snack. If you do not have cottage cheese/paneer in hand, use feta, parmesan or any other cheese that you have. I added some oregano to the paneer mix so as to give a flavor to the paneer as well. Add carrots, peas or any veggies of your choice but making sure that they are very finely chopped as we need these to be rolled into balls or any shape you like.

Add these balls to a cashew based rich gravy or to a pasta dish or in burritos or like us – on to salads!

Ingredients –

• Beetroot – 2 medium (boiled)
• Potatoes – 2 small/1 large (boiled)
• Paneer/Cottage cheese (finely chopped) – 340 gms OR 1 + 1/4 cup
• Chickpea flour/Besan – 3 tbsp
• Bread – 1 slice
• Green chillies – 1 small
• Turmeric powder – 2 tsp
• Paprika – 1 tbsp
• Oregano – 2 tsp
• Garam masala – 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 3 tbsp
• Curry powder – 2 tbsp
• Salt – 1 tbsp/as per taste
• Oil – 3 or 4 tbsp
• Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
• Roasted cumin powder – 2 tbsp
• Ginger Garlic paste – 2 tbsp

Directions –

• Start by placing all ingredients in a food processor with 2 tbsp oil.
• This should form a dough/ball.
• Remove the dough and place in a large bowl.
• At this point, taste for salt or any other flavor and keep aside.
• In a bowl – mix in the shredded paneer with oregano and 1 tbsp oil.
• Apply oil/ghee on the palms of both hands and start rolling the beet and potato mash into small/large balls as you like.
• Once done with making those balls, take each ball and press with the help of your thumb right in the middle of the ball so as to form a hollow space. Add in the paneer mix in it and and roll the ball again.
• I shallow fried some and used an air fryer for the rest. I will say that air fryer gives you the best result.
• Fry them deep/shallow or use an air fryer until they are slightly dark red/brown.
• I used a bed of salad to go with the balls but feel free to add these to pasta or any other gravy that you would like!