Kof-tot curry: My recipe for potato kofta curry using tater tots

The other day I was pinning Indian food recipes and ran across a few for potato kofta curry. Kofta is basically a type of Indian meatball made with lamb or beef. Since we eat meatless meals most nights, I was more interested in the veggie recipes. Potato koftas are made with riced potatoes, onions and spices. Most of the recipes I read went through the painstaking instructions of how to make these potato balls… I read through them and realized, “They are just making tater tots!”

I’ve been known to scoff at home made tater tots in all shapes and sizes so I decided that I’d make my own version of potato kofta for our lunches this week… “kof-tot curry.”

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Warning: Don’t serve my potato kofta curry to any Indian food purists… they will laugh you out of the kitchen. Do make it if you want a quick and hearty meat free meal that makes excellent leftovers. It’s probably the most glamorous way I’ve ever eaten tater tots…

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of unseasoned tater tots (I used 365 brand from Whole Foods)
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon red pepper
• 2 teaspoons of curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 and ½ cups of water
• 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 small onion
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 2 Tablespoons plain yogurt, cream or cream cheese (I used yogurt.)
• 1 cup of mixed greens ( I used frozen kale and collards from our CSA. Any veggies you like will work fine.)
• 1 can of garbanzos

Directions:

1. For the koftas: Bake tater tots as directed on the tot bag. Do not fry them or add oil or salt.
2. Combine spices with ½ cup of water.
3. Cook your onions in olive oil until translucent.
4. Add the garlic until and cook until everything is starting to turn golden.
5. Add the spice water, and stir.
6. Add tomato paste, water, and greens. Stir until all items are combined and the tomato sauce is not clumpy.
7. Drain and rinse your garbanzos and add them to the pan.
8. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce thickens and the greens are cooked.
9. Add dairy and mix gently. (Or omit this, up to you, it does make it creamier.)
10. Once your tots, I mean, “koftas,” are done you can add them to the sauce. Eat a few off the pan to make sure tater tots are still delicious. They are! Let them sit to absorb the sauce.

At this point I put them in mason jars in the fridge for lunches in the week but you can also heat it back up and serve it. More time marinating with the rest of the curry makes it more delicious.

Guest Post By: JM Hoover

JM Hoover believes that a day not spent getting dirty is a day wasted and that skirts are the best attire for an adventure. She lives in DurCHillsborough, NC with two boys, a blonde goat-dog, a pumpkin and a thirty pound cat.