Malai Kofta

The great thing about Indian food is that there is no right or wrong way to do it. There are no real measurements -although for the purposes of this blog I will try and include some. Unlike what random aunties tell you, every grandma’s recipe for something is different and they are all great. I make my malai kofta with a 2:1 paneer to potato ratio, but you can use any ratio you like!

Ingredients:

For the Kofta-

• 1 block paneer (shredded)
• 2 medium potatoes (boiled and mashed)
• 2 thai chilies (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• salt
• lemon juice (half a lemon or so)
• 3-4 tablespoons corn flour or fine corn meal

For the Sauce:

• 1 white onion
• 4-5 tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 thai chilies
• 7 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons grated ginger
• 4-5 cardamom pods or 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds or 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon Kashmiri chili powder (you can get it on amazon here)
• 1 tablespoon Kasuri methi (fenugreek leaves). You can buy it here
• 3/4 cup cashews
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• salt
• heavy cream
• approx 2 cups water

Directions for Kofta:

1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix together with your hand until everything is incorporated.
2. Gently form the mixture into small golf ball shapes. If you have trouble forming the balls, you may need to add a little more corn flour. If the mixture seems to dry, try wetting your hand and mixing again.
3. Roll the koftas in a little more corn flour
4. Fry the koftas until they are golden brown on all sides. You will want to make sure your oil is hot enough because otherwise the koftas will fall apart. Test the oil by dropping in a tiny piece of the kofta mixture. If it floats up right away then the oil is ready. You can shallow fry like I did or deep fry, just keep in mind that the oil you are using will be ruined by the corn flour.
5. Set aside until you are ready to eat. The longer you leave the koftas in the sauce, the softer they will get. I like mine soft so I add them into the hot sauce and let it warm on the stove together before serving it.

Directions for sauce:

1. Start by heating a little vegetable oil in a large pan and toast your whole spices, chilis, and the garlic cloves in it until you can start to smell them.
2. Add in your onions, tomatoes, tomato paste, and cashews. Cook until the tomatoes start to soften and fall apart.
3. Add in your ground spices and cook for 2-3 more minutes. The mixture should start to turn a little pasty at this point.
4. Add in 2-3 cups of water and let the mixture start to simmer.
5. Turn off the heat and carefully add the ingredients to a blender. *remember that hot liquids expand so cover the blender with a towel in case some tries to come flying out through the lid*
6. If the mixture is too thick, add more water to thin it out. This is all preference so don’t worry about how thick the sauce is “supposed” to be.
7. Add the blended mixture back into the pan and add in cream until you end up with a nice orange sauce.
8. Taste for seasoning and add in more salt or spice if necessary.