Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta is a North Indian style curry made from deep fried Paneer and Potatoes balls served in a silky smooth tomato and cream based gravy. It is a rich, creamy, mildly-spiced, melt in mouth curry which is an extremely popular side dish in the restaurants.

‘Kofta’ translates to deep fried balls either made of meat, veggies or cottage cheese and is quite a popular side dish in the Indian cuisine. ‘Malai’ means cream in Hindi and though this dish is made in a tomato and onion based gravy, but the generous amount of cream that is used in this dish along with the super soft Koftas makes this dish quite luxurious.

I am sure, we all tend to order Malai Kofta very often whenever we go to restaurants, however for some this dish could be slightly daunting to cook at home. Unlike the other koftas which are made using veggies like bottle gourd, these Koftas are extremely delicate and require some care while cooking them. They tend to disintegrate in oil very easily if the proportion of the ingredients are not right. But fear not, this recipe has got all the tips and tricks to make a perfect fool-proof restaurant style Malai Kofta!

We normally see two variations of Malai Kofta – one which is yellowish orange in colour (typically made from tomato and cream based gravy) and the other one which is white in colour (made from boiled onions, cashew nuts and cream based gravy). The white gravy is generally mild and slightly sweet, whereas the yellow gravy is not that sweet. Either be the choice, both the gravies pair beautifully with these Koftas. In this recipe, I am going to be giving the process of making the tomato based gravy and would cover the white gravy based Malai Kofta in a separate post.

Tips for making the perfect Malai Kofta

The most important element of this dish is the Kofta and this is where the proper attention is needed. These koftas are made with a blend of cooked potatoes and grated paneer. Potato gives the binding and crispness to the Kofta and paneer gives the softness. So the ratio of potatoes and paneer must be almost 1:1 by volume (not by weight). However I keep amount of paneer slightly less than the potatoes (around 85-90% of potatoes), as sometimes the Koftas break or disintegrate if the amount of paneer is more.

The potatoes alone are not going to be enough to give the required binding for the Koftas and we add some plain flour and corn flour to bring together the paneer and potato mixture. However do not add these flours in excess as it would alter the taste of the Koftas.

Make sure not to overcook the potatoes. If the potatoes are overcooked, the kofta dough might become mushy and would demand more flour for the binding. Also, grate the potatoes as against mashing them, as it would give a more uniform and smooth texture to the Koftas. Similarly, do not crumble the paneer, but grate them using a grater.

The Koftas must just contain some mild seasoning like grated ginger, green chillies, pepper powder, fresh coriander leaves. A dry fruit stuffing containing cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom powder enhances the taste and flavour many folds. The crunch from the dry fruits acts as a surprise element in the super soft koftas.

The Koftas must be dropped in hot oil and then cooked on medium flame carefully. If the oil is not hot enough while dropping the Kofta balls in it, the Koftas can disintegrate. At the same time if they are cooked on high flame, then they would turn brown immediately and would be doughy from the inside.

For the gravy, the ratio of tomatoes is to be kept slightly higher than the onions. You could use cashews or almonds for making the gravy thick and rich. I prefer using blanched and peeled almonds for this gravy and it tastes excellent. It is also a healthier version.

It is important to sieve the onion-tomato-almond puree to get a smooth velvety textured gravy.

Make sure to use a generous amount of cream in the final stage of the cooking. Stir continuously after adding the cream, to ensure that the cream does not get split.

Last and the most important tip – do not add the fried Koftas in the gravy and cook. For serving the dish, pour the hot gravy in the individual serving dish and place the koftas in the gravy . The koftas are to be consumed immediately.

Serving Suggestion

Malai Kofta pairs best with Garlic Butter Naan or Plain Naan. It also tastes good with Tandoori roti, Lachcha paratha, Chapati or steamed Basmati rice.

Malai Kofta

Kannan

Malai Kofta is a North Indian style curry made from deep fried Paneer and Potatoes balls served in a silky smooth tomato and cream based gravy.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine North-Indian

Servings 5 people

Ingredients

  

For Kofta

• 200 grams Paneer
• 3 Potatoes medium to large sized
• 1 inch Ginger grated
• 1 Green Chilli finely chopped
• 2 tbsp Plain Flour or Maida
• 2 tbsp Corn Starch
• ¼ tsp Pepper Powder
• 1 tsp Roasted Jeera or Cumin Powder
• 2 tbsp Coriander Leaves finely chopped
• 1.5 tsp Salt
• 5-6 Cashews
• 10 Pistachio nuts
• 10 Raisins optional
• ¼ tsp Green Cardamom Powder
• Oil for frying

For Gravy

• 20 nos. Almonds
• 2 Onions large sized
• 3 Tomatoes large sized
• ½ cup Fresh Cream
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• 2 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
• 2 tsp Honey
• ½ tsp Garam Masala
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 2 tbsp Oil
• ¼ tsp Cardamom Powder
• Salt to taste

Instructions

 

• Pressure cook whole potatoes with salt for 2 whistles. Drain the water and cool them completely, peel the skin and grate the potatoes in the largest setting of the grater. This should yield around 2 cups of grated potatoes.
• Grate 200 grams of paneer. This should yield slightly less than 2 cups of paneer.
• In a bowl, add the grated potatoes, grated paneer, pepper powder, grated ginger, finely chopped green chillies, chopped coriander leaves, salt, jeera powder, plain flour and corn starch.
  
• Mix all the ingredients well and make a dough. The dough should not be too sticky and must come together like a chapati dough.
  
• In a small bowl add some broken cashews, pistachio nuts, raisins and cardamom powder and mix. This would be the filling for the Kofta balls.
  
• Grease your hands with oil, and take a small portion of the dough and roll and make a depression in the center. Fill a small amount of the nuts mixture inside and cover and roll them to firm balls. It is important to roll the balls smooth and firm.
  
• Continue the above step for all the remaining dough. This recipe should yield around 25 kofta balls.
  
• Heat oil in kadai. Once the oil is hot enough, drop the kofta balls in small batches and turn the flame to medium. Wait to get a slight golden colour before trying to flip the koftas, else they could break. Continue to cook on the medium flame while flipping the koftas in between.
  
• Fry all the remaining kofta balls and keep them aside. Koftas are ready.
  
• For the gravy, soak 20 almonds in hot water for 15 minutes. Peel the skin.
  
• In a kadai, heat 2 tablespoons oil and add roughly chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. Cook till they turn pink in colour.
  
• Add the chopped tomatoes and blanched and peeled almonds, some salt. Mix well and cover and cook till the tomatoes are mushy. Stir occasionally.
  
• Cool the mixture completely and then blend to a fine puree in the mixer.
• Strain this mixture using a sieve by adding little water as required.
  
• The gravy base should look smooth like this.
  
• Heat a kadai and on low flame, add 2 tablespoons butter and add bay leaves, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder and mix well. Be careful not to burn the masala.
  
• Add the tomato onion gravy to the kadai and add salt and little water and mix well. Let this mixture cook for some 6-7 minutes on medium flame till it becomes slightly porous.
  
• Add 1 teaspoon of crushed Kasuri methi and cook further for couple of minutes.
  
• To this, now add half cup fresh cream
  
• Add around 1 cup of water and mix well with a whisk continuously to incorporate the cream into the gravy. It is important to stir continuously, else the cream could split. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
  
• Now add half teaspoon garam masala, 2 teaspoon honey and pinch of cardamom powder and turn of the flame. Mix well. The gravy is ready.
  
• For serving, take some hot gravy in the serving ball and place the kofta balls on top. You could garnish with some more cream and fresh coriander leaves. Do not mix all the koftas into gravy at once and serve in this way as required.
  

Notes

• It is important not to overcook the potatoes and must also not contain any excess water.
• Grate the potatoes and paneer as against mashing them for getting the best results. This would yield a smooth and homogeneous kofta.
• The ratio of the grated potatoes and paneer is almost 1:1 (by volume). You could keep the ratio of paneer slightly less if you are skeptical of koftas breaking while frying.
• Nut based Filling in the kofta adds a crunch to them. You could skip if you do not like nuts.
• The kofta balls must be rolled firmly and must be smooth. Grease your hands with oil to get the perfect smooth shape.
• The koftas must be dropped in hot oil and then cooked on medium flame. The koftas could break if the oil is not hot enough, and at the same time it must be then turned to medium flame to ensure that it is cooked through inside.
• If you do not have fresh cream, you could make use of full cream milk, however using fresh cream is highly recommended for this dish.
• Honey and a pinch of cardamom powder, which are added right at the end of cooking the gravy are the secret ingredients for this dish. It enhances the flavour.
• Do not add all the koftas to the gravy at once and serve individually as required.

Keyword Curry, Gravy, Kofta, Malai, Paneer, Rich