Wondering what veggie/curry to make for your weekend Lunch or Dinner? Well, I’ll get you sorted, try making my Malai Kofta Recipe, its finger lickin’ good, trust me; this Kofta recipe is a stealer!! Malai Kofta is a very popular and sought after vegetarian dish in Indian Restaurants. Malai Koftas are fried dumpling balls in rich, creamy and mildly spiced gravy. It’s quite easy to make and goes well with hot Chapatis, Parathas and Rice too. Koftas originally are meatball preparation mixed with other ingredients like vegetables, spices and dry fruits dunked in creamy gravy. Kofta is basically a Mughlai/ Middle Eastern dish. In India, there are many variants of a Kofta, usually made of mixed veggies like, Potatoes, Paneer, Raw Banana, Bottle Gourd (Lauki) etc. Here, my Malai Kofta recipe has Spinach, Cabbage and Paneer in it. You may also add any other vegetables of your choice.
RECIPE
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
For making Koftas:
- Finely Chopped Spinach leaves – 1 Cup
- Finely Chopped Cabbage – 1 Cup
- Paneer crumbled -1 Cup
- Corn Flour – 2 ½ tbsps
- Green Chillies – 1-2 finely chopped
- Garam Masala -1/2 tsp
- Bread Slices -2
- Grated Cheese – 1 tbsp
- Handful of Finely chopped coriander leaves
- Salt
For the Gravy:
- Onions – 1 cup roughly chopped and blended to a fine paste
- Tomatoes pureed– 1 Cup
- Ginger- Garlic Paste -1 tbsp
- Cashew nuts – 8-10
- Bay leaf -1
- Cardamom/Elaichi – 2
- Cinnamon Stick- 1 Inch
- Dry Red Chilli -1
- Cumin Seeds -1 tsp
- Curd/Yogurt -1 tbsp
- Garam Masala Powder – ½ tsp
- Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
- Coriander/ Dhania Powder -1 tsp
- Salt
- Ghee -2-3 tbsps
- Sugar -1/2 tsp
- Fresh Cream – 2 to 3 tbsps
- Kasuri Methi – ½ tsp
Method:
- First get the Koftas ready, In a Pan dry roast the finely chopped Cabbage and Spinach leaves for about 2 minutes, then turn off the flame and cool them down in a bowl.
- Now take the tow bread slices and soak them in 2 tbsps of milk.
- Add green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, corn flour, grated Paneer, grated cheese and soaked bread without the crust or edges, add salt and mix all these ingredients properly.
- Now time to make Koftas, dust your hands with corn flour and make the small round dumplings out of the mixture.
- In a big Kadai heat some oil, once the oil heats up, fry these Koftas until golden brown and keep them aside.
- Moving onto Curry now, heat 2-3 tbsps of ghee in a kadai, once the ghee is hot enough add a bay leaf, elaichi, an inch of cinnamon, and whole dry red chilli, once these spices leave a nice aroma, add in cumin seeds, onion and ginger garlic paste. Cook the Onion till they are brown.
- Add Cashew paste (8-10 cashews soaked in warm water and blended into fine thick paste), a tbsp of curd/Yogurt and sauté well.
- Add the tomato puree and mix well again, add coriander powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, Garam masala powder, salt and sugar accordingly.
- Mix all the ingredients well and let the puree simmer for about 10 minutes.
- When you feel the moisture dries out, add little water to the curry and give a good mix.
- Now add kasuri methi and fresh cream or homemade Malai and mix well.
- Lastly, add finely chopped coriander leaves and mix well, Kofta curry is ready to be served.
- In a serving dish, plate the Koftas and pour the hot gravy over it, garnish with fresh cream and coriander leaves.
- You may serve the Spinach Malai Kofta with hot Naan/Phulkas, Chapatis or Rice.
Note: Add gravy over the Koftas only once you are ready to eat it, otherwise the Koftas will not be crispy.
