Khowa Paneer Malai Kofta

“Malai Kofta” the name itself reminds us of the restaurant style rich taste of the creamy gravy and the soft and tender kofta that just melt in your mouth. Though it is a very popular North Indian curry, it is visible in all Indian restaurant menus because of its special taste and aroma people prefers to have it during special occasions.

Kofta is basically fried cottage cheese (Paneer) ball and Malai is the thick cream based gravy in which koftas are dipped.

There are lots of variations of kofta, from non-vegetarian meat balls to pure veg versions. My version of kofta is pretty simple yet very smooth, soft and quite rich which are made mostly with paneer and Khoya/Mawa with little mashed veggies like potatoes, peas and stuffed with nuts and raisins. It goes very well with Tandoori Roti, Naan and Jeera Rice.

Ingredients:

For koftas:

• 200 gms Paneer /Cottage cheese (grated)
• 100 gms Khoya/Mawa (solidified Milk)
• 2 Potatoes (boiled and grated)
• ¼ cup frozen green peas (boiled)
• 2 tbsp of  chopped cashewnuts and raisins 
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• ½ tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt as per taste
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander (chopped)
• Oil to fry koftas

For gravy:

• 2 large onion (chopped)
• 1 tbsp gingergarlic paste
• 2 tomatoes ( chopped)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• ½ tsp whole cumin seed
• 3 tbsp cashew paste (Thick)
• 1 cup cream (200 gms)
• 1 bunch fresg coriander leaves
• Sugar as per taste
• Salt as per taste.
• Oil
• 1 tbsp butter

Method:

For making Kofta:

1. Take khoya and grated paneer in a plate and mash it smooth with hand. Add grated boiled veggies like potato and peas (veggies should be well strained so that there is no water left in that else the balls can break while frying).  Now add corn flour, cumin powder, coriander powder, Red chili powder, chopped coriander, salt  and sugar and mix  it well  and knead it  into firm and smooth dough.
2. Pick a small amount of dough and roll it in hand to get round shape of kofta ball. Now press it at the center and place two raisins and a few pieces of broken nuts at the center of flattened ball. Close it and roll it again to make perfect round balls without any crack. Make all the koftas in similar fashion and keep it ready for frying.
3. Heat oils in a pan and deep fry all the koftas in low and then medium flame until they become golden brown in color evenly on all sides. Stir the koftas very slowly while frying otherwise they can break into pieces. Take it out and keep aside. If koftas break while frying add some more corn flour to the mixture. 

For making Gravy:

1. Take flat bottomed pan and add 2 tbsp of oil. Add chopped onion and fry until it turns golden in color. Now add Ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes, stir well and cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
2. When the tomatoes  becomes soft add turmeric powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder and mix well all the spices with Onion and Tomatoes and cook till oil gets separated from the spices. Switch off the flame and let the mixture cool.
3. Take the cooked mixture in a blender and make a smooth paste.
4. Heat 2 tbsp butter in the same pan and add whole cumin seeds when the cumin seeds starts spluttering, add the blended mixture paste. Add little water and bring it to boil. Once the mixture starts boiling add cashew paste . Now add salt and little sugar. Stir for 3 to 4 minutes and then reduce the flame and add fresh cream or Malai and you can see the light golden color the gravy has achieved.
5. Stir the mixture and let it cook for another 2 to 3 minutes in medium flame until one boil so that the gravy become rich and creamy.  Add prepared koftas into it cover each kofta nicely with gravy. switch off the flame and finally add garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Cover it for some time so that flavor of garam masala and coriander leaves mix well in the gravy which gives a nice aroma to the dish.  

Take it out in a bowl and garnish with some cream and coriander leaves and your scrumptious Malai Kofta is ready to serve with hot naan .