Malai Kofta with a Twist, a Vegetarian Indian Dish

 There I was, in northern Michigan, taste testing Indian food for our lavish, pandemial wedding. And as I was splitting open an authentic Malai Kofta nugget of comfort, I noticed a strange, yet not unpleasant, difference. Normally, when I go to our favorite Indian restaurants in California or in Florida, I order the Malai Kofta (my favorite) and the nuggets are made with potato. I love taking a piece of buttery naan and mushing the nugget, blending it in with the tomatoey gravy. At the Petoskey restaurant, I went to dive bomb the nugget with my naan, as per usual, and received a bounce-back! I used my fork to open up the nugget and inside were tiny grains...not potato. I gave it a taste, warily, and it wasn't that bad. The gravy was oh so delicious, the best Indian gravy I've ever had. My fiance informed me that this was the more expensive, authentic version of the dish we've always ordered. Anyway, the whole concept of nuggets being made with - what was it? - couscous or semolina, got me thinking. 

I tried something in my kitchen and it worked out in my success, and now I'd like to share with you a vegetarian, easy-to-make, cheap Indian dish that tastes gourmet. 

You will need:

• A small pot
• A medium pot
• A bowl
• Oil (enough for  semi-deep frying)
• 1 egg
• 1 box parmesan couscous (I use Near East brand). 
• 1 jar ready made Indian Tikka Masala, or whatever you want
• mushrooms (optional)
• jalapeno (optional)
• green onions/onions (optional)
• salt

In a medium pot, make your parmesan couscous according to the boxed directions, including fluffing with a fork at the very end, and allow to cool to room temperature. 

In the small pot, glug as much frying oil as you will allow yourself. I can never bring myself to pour in half the bottle, it creeps me out. Start heating it up on medium-high heat. 

In a bowl, mix the parmesan couscous with one egg. The egg is important for binding (I would never make you include an unnecessary ingredient, so if you don't have an egg, either get one, find another binding agent, or give up). 

Roll the couscous mixture into balls. The "dough" is sticky. Once the oil is hot enough for frying, place the balls into the oil. Turn over to brown the other sides if you didn't add enough oil to cover them (I cannot bring myself to do this). Once they are browned all the way around, you can take them out and place on paper towel to get rid of extra grease. 

Heat up the jarred Indian curry sauce of your choice. I love to add ingredients to my jarred soups and sauces to give it more natural flavor. For this recipe, I would add sauteed mushrooms, green onion, and jalapeno. I chose the Tikka Masala, which turned out sweet, so I also added salt to cut the sugar. 

Once the jarred sauce is heated through, add the fried balls of couscous and douse them in the curry. They are ready to serve and eat!

I am salivating writing up this recipe - I cannot tell you how tasty it is. The parmesan in the couscous gives it a cheesy flavor, and mixed with the gravy, it makes the perfect combo! I mean, tomato and cheese, a timeless love affair. And besides, anything deep-fried has to be good, right? 

Try these deep-fried couscous delectables in other saucey dishes too!