Choliya Kofta Curry, Fresh Green Chickpeas Dumplings In Tomato Gravy

          Couple of weeks back, I had bought some choliya ( fresh green chickpeas/kondakadalai ) and I had made 3 different dishes with it. I have already posted the first one, Choliya Paneer Curry, today's the second one, Choliya Kofta Curry. Like all kofta curries, there are 2 steps to this one too, making the koftas and the gravy and then putting them together, but still it's an easy dish. The koftas turned out soft with a crumbly texture and tasted very good, this curry would go very well with rotis, naans and pilafs..

Need To Have
For The Koftas

• Choliya/Fresh Green Chickpeas - 1 cup
• Grated Paneer - 3/4 cup
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Green Chilly - 1
• Rice Flour - 1+1/2 tablespoons
• Garam Masala - 1/4 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander - 2 tablespoons
• Salt to taste

For The Gravy

• Tomatoes - 2 big, chopped
• Onion - 1 small, chopped
• Cashews - 10
• Ginger - 1" piece
• Red Chilly Powder - 1+1/2 teaspoons
• Coriander Powder - 1+1/2 teaspoons
• Turmeric Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Green Cardamom - 2 small
• Cloves - 1
• Cinnamon - 1/2" piece
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt to taste
• Chopped Coriander To Garnish - 1 tablespoon

Method

          The fresh green chickpeas comes in small pods, pop them, remove, wash the chickpeas and keep.

          Grind the chickpeas with the green chilly and ginger, without adding any water, into a coarse paste and remove.

          To the ground chickpeas, add the paneer, garam masala, salt, chopped coriander and rice flour and mix everything together.

          Shape the mixture into oval shape balls and deep fry them till they turn golden, drain and keep.

          Now, let's make the gravy to go with the koftas. Grind together the tomatoes, onion, ginger, cashews, red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and green cardamom into a smooth paste and keep.

          Heat some oil, add the cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf, once the spices start sizzling, add the ground paste.

          Saute the paste well till the raw smell goes away, for about 7 to 10 minutes, then add about 11/2 to 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil, add the salt and sugar and keep cooking on low heat for another 7 to 10 minutes till the desired thickness is reached. Add the fried koftas to the hot gravy, just before serving, mix, add the chopped coriander and serve.

Note
Depending on the moisture content of the ground chickpeas, add upto 2 tablespoons of rice flour.
You can also add bread crumbs or corn flour in the place of the rice flour.
Add the koftas, just before serving and also don't make the gravy too thick, it'll become thick as it cools.
I haven't added any cream to the gravy, if you want to make it more richer, you can add a little at the end.