Yucca (Cassava) Malai Kofta

Have you guys had Yucca (Yuka) Root before? Yucca is sort of a starchy type of vegetable that resembles potatoes. I love yucca, especially yucca fries, or cooked in a soup; it's very filling and tasty. Growing up in Panama, my family used to eat yucca quite a bit because it was easily available there and it's incorporated in Panamanian food in general quite often.

I've always used yucca in my Panamanian soup, but I wanted to try it out in something else so I decided to experiment with it and make Malai Kofta. I basically used the yucca to substitute the potatoes in the kofta balls. Let's just say that my experiment was a success because the kofta balls turned out so delicious with the yucca that I'm going to use that instead of potatoes from now on. Mr. Sunit loved it of course so there you have it. Hope you enjoy my recipe!

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Yucca (Cassava) Kofta Balls

Ingredients:

- 2 cups of boiled yucca root (substitute potatoes or even sweet potatoes)

- 2 cups of paneer

- 1/2 cup of roughly chopped cashews

- 1 tbsp of ginger/garlic paste (minced/shredded/blended)

- 1 tbsp of chopped Thai green chillies (roughly 3-4 chillies)

- 1/2 tbsp of corn starch

- 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour

- 1 tsp of salt

- Canola Oil for frying

Directions

1 - Peel the yucca root and cut it up into chunks and boil it in salt water until its cooked, drain it and let it cool.

2 - Shred or mash the yucca and the paneer and sprinkle the corn starch and flour.

3 - Mix in the cashews, garlic, ginger, salt, and chopped Thai green chilies in the mashed yucca and paneer.

4 - Mix it all up and form balls and set aside.

5 - Heat up oil for frying and fry the balls until they are medium brown and set them aside.

Note: You can also add raisins as well in the kofta balls, but I just like cashews. I’ve also though about adding Amul cheese. The Amul cheese (Indian cheese) has a nice flavor especially when it’s fried.

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Kofta Sauce

Ingredients:

- 12-15 cashews (soaked in hot water for 30 mins)

- 1/2 red onion1 yellow onion

- 3-4 cloves

- 1 medium cinnamon stick

- 1 medium vine tomato

- 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste

- 1 tbsp of ginger/garlic paste

- 1/2 tbsp of garam masala

- 1 tbsp of Kashmiri red chili powder (or Cayenne as substitute)

- 1 tsp of coriander

- 2-3 tbsp EVOO

- 1 tsp of salt

- 1 tsp of sugar

- 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream (coconut milk, or half and half as substitutes)

- Handful of minced cilantro (1/2 cup)

- Kasoori Methi (Dried Rani Fenugreek Leaves) Optional

Directions

1 - Use the Ninja chopper or blender and blend the red and yellow onion until they are minced completely.

2 - Heat up the EVOO over medium to high heat and throw in the cloves and cinnamon stick and let them sizzle for a few seconds, and then add the blended onions mixture and cook it over medium heat until moisture is almost gone - about 5 minutes.

3 - Once the onions are cooked, add ginger/garlic paste, garam masala, red chili powder, coriander and salt and mix it all up and cook it for about 1 minute.

4 - Blend the tomato next and add that to the sauce and let it cook for about 2 minutes. Then add tomato paste and about a half cup of water and let it cook.

5 - Blend the soaked cashews and then add a little water and blend it again so that it will form a paste and add that paste into the sauce while it’s cooking.

6 - Add heavy whipping cream and sugar and let it cook for about 15 minutes or so. 7 - You may add minced cilantro or Kasoori Methi. Taste and add more salt, sugar, cream, or spices to taste.

For serving: Warm up the sauce until bubbly and add the fried kofta balls into the sauce and let them cook in the sauce for about 2-3 minutes. Top it off more cilantro and heavy whipping cream if desired for garnishing and serve it with warm parathas.