Watermelon Rind Kofta

Image shows three fried kofta in tomato sauce

I may have mentioned how importantYamuna Devi's The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, also called Lord Krishna's Cuisine is to me.  When I felt I needed to make something interesting with watermelon rind, it was to Devi that I turned.  Devi has recipes for zucchini kofta and radish kofta, and since watermelon rind falls right between those two ingredients in flavor and texture, I made a recipe that falls between the two koftas.  The good news is these kofta are vivid and delicious. The other news is that I will never again be able to throw out watermelon rinds without feeling like John Dillinger. 

I only hope I will not be disrupting any July 4th picnics by haranguing innocent revelers on the benefits  of cooking watermelon rind.

Watermelon Rind Kofta

Adapted from Lord Krishna's Cuisine by Yamuna Devi

1/2 rind of 1 basketball-sized watermelon (1.5 pounds before scraping and peeling, 1 pound after)

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds

2 hot green chiles (or just one, or even none if you prefer), diced

1 teaspoon finely grated ginger (or more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

several sprigs cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish (about half a small bunch)

4 ounces chickpea flour (3/4 cup before sifting, 1 cup after sifting)

sunflower oil (about 2 cups)

Scrape the remaining juicy pulp from the watermelon rind and peel off the tough green skin.  Grate the rind on a box grater or in a processor.  

You should get about 1 pound (3 cups) of shredded vegetables. Allow the vegetables to rest and squeeze out excess liquid (save this for making the sauce)

Combine the rind, chiles, ginger, salt, chopped cilantro, baking powder in a bowl and mix well. 

Heat the oil in a wok or other wide sauté pan.  Add the sifted chickpea flour to the vegetable mixture and form into about 12 kofta.  Fry them in the oil until golden.

Serve with fragrant tomato and watermelon seed sauce.