How my mom’s recipe became Muneeza’s plant-based creamy malai kofta
My mom’s kofta (meatball) curry was always a treat. But it was a dish made with oil, meat, and yogurt- many ingredients I cannot eat and that people with chronic illnesses have a hard time eating. I made this recipe to include the same flavor profile but took out the things that held me back and could potentially make me sick. This malai kofta has all of the same nostalgic flavors that I know and love, but instead of it being a meal I would have to sacrifice to eat, this version is healthy for me and my family and a total delight.
While it can be made higher or lower in fat, it is important to consider your personal healing journey and how much fat you are capable of consuming. This recipe includes 4 tbsp of cashews total, and for the curry sauce, either veggie broth or coconut milk can be used, keeping this Plant-Based Creamy Malai Kofta recipe’s total fat content very low!
Why low-fat?
“When fats are removed from the diet for long enough, it thins the blood enough to reverse all kinds of symptoms and conditions.” – Cleanse to Heal by Anthony William, the Medical Medium
Excess fats are responsible for a host of cumulative health issues in the body. In all healing cleanse protocols, for example, fats are lowered to allow your liver, heart, and pancreas a break. Fruits, vegetables, and leafy greens are increased in your diet to give your body exactly what it wants.
Your liver is your body’s main filtration system, creating the bile necessary to break down fats and proteins. When consuming a high-fat diet, stress is put on this system, and the liver cannot produce the bile necessary to break down high-protein and fat foods (think about pork, dairy, and eggs). When this occurs, foods will inefficiently digest and instead start to rot in the digestive tract on its way through you, causing ineffective nutrient absorption. A sluggish liver burdened with a toxic environment leads to stubborn weight gain and the condition known as “a slow metabolism.”
Similarly, with the pancreas, a prolonged diet full of unproductive sources of high-fat “no” food items can lead to pancreatitis, a condition where the pancreas starts to fail from the sheer amount of insulin it has to create to address high sugar in the bloodstream due to the body’s inability to move it quickly into cells! Pork, for example, causes the pancreas to produce and dump months’ worth of insulin at a time!
Lower Fat = Lower Blood Pressure
Lastly, thickened blood and less oxygen in the body pressure the heart to pump harder. Your heart and liver are responsible for getting fresh blood to your organs and brain (the liver helps filter blood, and the heart pumps it). When eating a high-fat diet, your blood pressure increases, oxygen levels that help us think drop in the brain, toxins are physically driven into the cells, and phytochemicals and antioxidants are kept from repairing and feeding cells in the brain.
Reverse this condition by lowering fats and bringing in more vegetables, leafy greens, and fruits, and as our blood pressure lowers we will feel the beneficial effects of toxins being encouraged to exit the brain cells and into the bloodstream freely. Damage-repairing nutrients will also get to our brain cells, and fresh oxygen will begin to replenish us. If you are struggling to find yummy low-fat foods, this Delicious Plant-Based Creamy Malai Kofta recipe will hit the spot!
It is important to remember that when our bodies are in a low-oxygen state, it creates the perfect stage for pathogens to proliferate, feeding on accumulated toxins that are not cleansing out of our organs. Our liver has the burden of filtering out natural waste products our bodies create from metabolic waste in addition to the environmental toxins we accumulate. Lowering fats and staying fat-free in the morning is the best way to support our liver’s natural cleansing abilities.
All this to say, keeping fats low is necessary for our body’s long-term health! I hope you will appreciate the importance of this and why I find it important to convert traditionally high-fat recipes like my mom’s Kofta Curry to this plant-based creamy malai kofta recipe, a lower-fat alternative, so that we can eat without worrying! Even this recipe with the coconut milk used can still be considered low-fat. That being said, feel free to use broth as a replacement.
Enjoy this plant-based creamy malai kofta dish with these side dishes and recipes:
- Fresh millet
- Cashew cream sauce thinned out. You can also opt out of the aromatic herbs so that it fits better with the curry sauce flavor profile.
- My gluten-free coconut garlic naan bread.
- Chutneys and sauces from this ebook, all proceeds go to the Underdog Warriors to help people in the Medical Medium community who need support with supplements, books, and practitioner support.
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Happy holidays,
Muneeza
Plant-based Malai Kofta (Meatballs)
Equipment
Ingredients
Plant-Based Kofta (crispy potato veggie dumpling)
- 2 cups russet potato, unpeeled and chopped
- ½ cup carrot, chopped
- ½ cup peas, frozen
- 2 tbsp toasted cashews, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- ½ tsp sea salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp ground cumin powder
- ½ cup chickpea flour
Creamy Spiced Tomato Sauce
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1 tsp ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 cup yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 tsp serrano chili, finely chopped (or a pinch of cayenne)
- 1 cup tomatoes, chopped or pureed
- 2 tbsp cashews, toasted and ground (a coffee grinder works well)
- 1 cup veggie broth or canned coconut milk
- 1 cup water, or as needed
- ¼ tsp garam masala (optional or can use a pinch of cinnamon)
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp coriander, ground
- ¼ tsp salt, or to taste
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
- fresh cilantro to garnish
- Lemon wedges to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Steam the potatoes, carrots and peas. Once done, transfer to a large bowl and let them cool.
- While the veggies are steaming, start prepping the sauce in a pot. Add a little water to the pan and then add cumin seeds and cook until they begin to sizzle.
- Add onion, ginger, and serrano pepper if using. Cook for 3-4 minutes and keep stirring until the onions brown.
- Add tomatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes more.
- Transfer tomato mixture to a blender (or food processor) and carefully blend until smooth.
- Return to the pan and add the remaining ingredients, veggie broth (or coconut milk) cashews, garam masala, turmeric, cayenne, coriander, salt & black pepper. Save the water for the end and add as much as you need to make a gravy consistency (it will continue to thicken as it cooks).
- Combine ingredients and stir well, let it bubble gently over low heat while you prepare koftas.
- Next, prep a baking sheet with parchment to place the koftas on.
- To the potatoes, carrots, and peas, add the cashews, cilantro, turmeric, pepper, salt, and chickpea flour and stir and a thick dough will form.
- Form koftas into golf ball-sized balls, placing a few inches apart on the sheet.
- Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes until crispy on the bottom and flip over. Bake an additional 10-15 minutes until crispy on all sides.
- When koftas are done, drop them in the heated gravy and serve immediately with millet or clean gluten-free bread. Garnish with cilantro, lemon juice, and my cashew cream sauce (optional).
