Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta is one of “the most popular Vegetarian Indian Curry”. This is a delicious restaurant style Punjabi dish in which potato and cottage cheese balls are fried to make koftas and then these koftas are dunked into in a rich, creamy and mild tomato onion based gravy. This is one of the best Malai Kofta that you can make at home with very few ingredients. Especially for people like me who have been in a situation when you end up with just basic ingredients to cook with.

There are many variations of Malai Kofta made with either Paneer and Potato or with mixed vegetables or raw banana. For this recipe, I have used Paneer, Potatoes and cornflour as main ingredients for the koftas and the gravy is made from onion, tomatos and cashews. The cashew paste makes the gravy creamy, so I have not added the cream in the gravy. However, cream has been used for garnishing.

Follow step by step guide below to prepare the gravy. Just before serving, warm up the gravy, toss in the koftas and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and drizzle some fresh cream and serve hot with Nan, Tandoori Rotis, Lachha Parantha or the humble Jeera Rice.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time:        10 minutes for frying koftas
10-15 minutes for gravy

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For Kofta
4 boiled potatoes
½ cup crumbled cottage cheese/paneer
1 tbsp cornflour
¼ tsp red pepper powder
¼ tsp coriander powder
salt to taste

For Gravy

2 tsp ghee/oil
3 medium sized onions roughly chopped
3 tomatoes roughly chopped
1 tsp Cumin seeds
4-5 cloves Garlic roughly chopped
1 green chili chopped
1 tsp ginger chopped
15 cashew nuts
½ tsp red chili powder/ lal mirch
¼ tsp turmeric powder/ Haldi
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves/ kasoori methi
salt to taste

For Garnishing
chopped fresh coriander leaves
a few drops of cream

METHOD

1. Heat 1 tsp ghee in a kadhai and add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds crackle, add onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies.
2. Saute onions, ginger, garlic, and green chilies for some time till onions turn translucent. Add cashews and sauté till onions and cashews are light brown in colour.
   

   
3. Now add roughly chopped tomatoes. Cook till tomatoes are cooked stirring frequently.
4. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool down completely before blending.
5. In the meanwhile, prepare the koftas.
6. Grate boiled potatoes and paneer.
7. Mix all other ingredients mentioned for Koftas and give them desired shape like round balls, oblong or flat like tikkis. I got around 13 koftas.
   

   
8. When oil is hot check by frying a small piece of dough. If it holds its shape, then start frying else add some more cornflour to the dough and check again.
9. Deep fry on medium flame till golden brown.
10. Now grind the onion tomato mixture into a smooth paste.
11. Heat 1 tsp ghee and add ground gravy mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.
12. Add red chili powder, turmeric powder, and salt.
13. Cook for another 2 minutes until oil starts to separate.
14. Pour in enough water to make a thick gravy. Bring it to a boil.
15. Add crushed fenugreek leaves, garam masala, and adjust the salt.
16. Check the consistency of gravy and add water as desired.
17. Just before serving, warm the gravy, add koftas, drizzle some cream, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

RECIPE NOTES

1. Don’t overcrowd the koftas in oil as they might crack and absorb more oil. I fried 3 koftas at a time.
2. To make the dish more rich, you may add chopped cashews and raisins while making kofta balls.
3. Optionally, add 1 tsp of cream in the gravy to make it more creamy and rich. I used the cream for just garnishing and it worked well for me.