This used to be a real royal treat as kids when mom used to make malai kofta (a recipe I couldn't find anywhere for the matching koftas, and skill I struggled to master). Result - an ever growing yearning which wouldn't get satisfied with 4,000 miles and different time zones in between! Another result - I learned the recipe and the art of making koftas, finally! I have now made them a few times and am confident that this is a helpful recipe for anyone wanting to eat, feed and make koftas for the first time, or those wanting to bring a bit of a change to their original recipe! The twist is I stuff my koftas with the real matter instead of just mixing it with the potato! Here it goes:
Disclaimer: Spices are approximate proportions! Experienced cooks could use their judgements, for beginners, this will be a good starter!
Serves: 4
Difficulty level: medium (gets better after first go!)
Prep time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
For the kofta
8-10 medium sized potatoes - boiled
Salt to taste
About 250gms of Paneer - grated
2 tbsp of fresh double cream
Handful of half cashew pieces (optional)
2 tbsp of cornflour (no worries if you don't have it, I have gone without it)
Oil to deep fry koftas in a pan (if you have an appe pan, you can shallow fry these, I've never tried as I have yet to buy an appe pan, but my friends have)
For the gravy
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cloves
small piece cinnamon stick
2 medium sized onions - thinly cut in chunks
1/2 inch ginger - roughly cut into pieces
3-4 cloves garlic - roughly cut into pieces
2 green chillies - halved
10-12 cashews
3-4 medium sized tomatoes - roughly cut into chunks
3-4 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
1 big cardamom
2 tsp kasoori methi
2 tbsp fresh double cream
cashews to garnish
coriander to garnish
Method:
Koftas
Grate the boiled potatoes, add about half paneer, salt to taste and 1 tbsp corn flour if you're using it. Mix together.
Separately, mix remainder grated paneer and double cream together
Now grease your palms and make small balls of the potato, keep them aside.
Take about a teaspoon of paneer-cream mixture and fill into each potato ball (for this slightly flatten the potato ball with fingers and place the paneer mix in the centre), add half or small piece of cashew if you wish, fold in the potato ball from all sides covering the mixture and cashew well enclosed. Make sure not to leave any stuffing exposed. Stuff all of your potato balls like this and keep aside.
Pour oil in a pan to deep fry (I take a medium sized pan so that I don't need to use a lot oil for frying). Put it on flame to bring it to medium to hot
In the meanwhile, coat all koftas (potato balls) in corn flour or make sure to coat well in oil with greased palms. Your koftas are ready for frying.
Fry koftas in the pan (do not fry more than 3-4 together). Fry delicately until golden brown. Place aside on an absorbent plate. Your koftas are ready. I always fry more than I need and freeze them!
Gravy
Take 1 tbsp oil in a pan, when slightly hot, add cloves, cinnamon stick, cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start to crackle, add ginger, garlic, green chilli and saute for 2 minutes.
Add onions and saute again until onions turn soft and pinkish in colour
Add cashews and saute for another 2 minutes
Add tomatoes, salt to taste and cook until tomatoes turn soft and squashed, and start releasing oil on sides.
Add rest of the spices - turmeric powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala. Saute for 2-3 minutes and take off the flame. Leave aside to cool. I prepare my naans during this time or cut salad, roast poppadams, prepare raita, there's never enough to do in the kitchen!
When the above mixture is cooled, grind in the mixer to a very fine paste.
Take 1 tbsp oil in the same pan, 1 tbsp butter, add the bay leaf, big cardamom, saute for a minute
Add this gravy paste, about 2 cups of water, salt to taste, let cook until oil releases on sides as well as desired consistency is achieved. Add coriander powder, garam masala, chilli powder, kasoori methi. Mix well. Add fresh cream from top! Your gravy is ready!
To serve:
Place koftas on a tray or a flat bowl
Pour gravy from top on each kofta and some extra in the bowl to fill spaces
Garnish with some cream, coriander, and cashews
Serve with chapati / parantha / naan / tandoori roti / jeera rice or plain rice
This is a very versatile dish, goes equally well with anything or even on its own! Try it :)
As I'm a foodie, I have never paid serious attention to clicking photos of my food after its cooked, but I've started to practice my patience on it lately, and have tried to click some photos. Here are some pictures if they help! If I become a regular at documenting my recipes, I'll of course try to click better photos :)
Please leave me a note if you liked this recipe, enjoyed reading it, got inspired to try it, or cooked it!
I will in the meanwhile write another post! Enjoy :)