This has to be one of the most soughted out desi vegetarian recipes !
I have been asked for this recipe soo many times but i dreaded to make it. I can write the recipe but i need to make it in my kitchen and take out a pic. I do not use any pics from the internet.. what  i post are my creations in my own kitchen.
Malai Koftas are actually balls filled with paneer(home made cottage cheese) and then deep fried and put into a rich gravy.
The whole process is tiring and cumbersome…boil vegetables, mash them, season them with spices, make the paneer, stuff it in the vegetables, make a ball…deep fry and then make the sauce
I am tired just typing it! Imagine making it! I told myself there has to be a simpler way to make this…why go through soo much hassle?
I sat n used my thinking cap (yes i do have one!!!) and i said there has to be a shortcut without compromising on taste and why does one have to use cream? Why cant one create the restaurant taste without the calories????
And i came up with my very own recipe!!!! So…. lets make malai kofta ok??????
INGREDIENTS FOR 11 SMALL KOFTAS (BALLS).
1 litre of whole milk
1 cup of yogurt
200 ml of cream
This is for the paneer…please follow my paneer video on how to make paneer.
Once the paneer is made let it drain and cool completely
Meantime lets make the gravy?
INGREDIENTS:
1 spanish onion chopped roughly
2 flakes of garlic
1 small piece ginger
1 green chilli or more
2 teaspoons of Nitu Didi Garam masala powder
2 teaspoons of Nitu Didi coriander powder
4-5 tablespoons of tomato paste (not to be confused with tomato puree)
100 grams of yogurt, put in a strainer to get rid of all the water content for 2 hours
4-5 tablespoons of oil , you can use ghee or butter
3 tablespoons of milk or as needed or cream if you wish
dry fruit as cashewnuts or almonds if you want it richer, i did not have so did not put
coriander leaves chopped for garnish
chopped green chillies if you wish
1 cup of water
METHOD:
Make the paneer as my recipe and video and then let it drain and cool completely in the strainer without any weight. Meantime we can make the gravy, Once the paneer is well drained put it into the kitchen blender ( i used my amazing bullet) and blend it till smooth. Add salt , some chopped coriander leaves, alittle chopped green chilli and 1 teaspoon each of garam masala and coriander powder. Mix well. It should be very smooth and refrigerate in a plastic container covered.
Make a paste of the onions, ginger and garlic without any water. I used my amazing bullet. Heat the oil in a non stick pan and fry the paste till browned. The paste will stick to the bottom, please dont panic, add some water and continue browning. Please fry this paste well till all the raw onion and garlic smell disappears. If you dont do this well the gravy wont taste nice. If you need to buy good pans i have some amazing spider pans for sale. I added water twice to this paste and kept on frying it. Once you feel the raw smell has disappeared, add the yogurt and cook till the yogurt is cooked and you can see a bit of oil on the sides, i say a bit of oil coz we havent put in much oil anyways. Then add the tomato paste and the spices. Cook till well blended. Add coriander leaves and green chillies and salt. Add the milk and water and bring it to a boil. Let it cook for 2 minutes. This is your amazing gravy! To enrichen it : you can add some crushed nuts, some raisins, some rose petals etc.
FOR THE KOFTAS:
Take out the paneer from the fridge and shape into small balls using a bit of pressure. Now comes the tricky part. You can either dip these balls in a batter of white flour or gram flour made with sparkling water or you can fry them without the coating. I fried them without the coating.. Its tricky but POSSIBLE. Heat up oil in a deep fryer till quite hot and then just add one or two balls at a time and fry them for 10 seconds and remove. Dont fry them for too long and i suggest you try one ball first. If it breaks then please coat in a batter and then fry.
Heat the gravy well and pour on top of the paneer balls
PHEW!!!! Complicated????? Well its easier than it sounds…Do try this out and let me know 🙂
This is how the paneer should look like
the lightly fried balls
to buy my amazing bullet do contact me at cookingwithnitu@gmail.com