Malai kofta - Featuring crispy paneer balls in a rich and creamy sauce, this curry is spot-on with your favorite flatbread or rice. Comforting dinner just got a whole lot better!
The one and only thing on my mind right now is creating delicious recipes just for you. I always love sharing both traditional and modern meal ideas. And hey, that’s the very reason why I started this blog. Moreover, I adore photography as much as I love cooking. For me, shooting beautiful food is just fun and creative.
Coming to today’s recipe, malai kofta is a tomato based curry made more exciting with the addition of koftas. Kofta is basically Indian style meatballs minus meat. Traditionally, they’re loaded with paneer and veggies making them vegetarian’s delight. The word “malai” means creamy, and it refers to the creamy tomato based sauce that makes the base of this curry.
Alright, let’s make malai kofta.
First, paneer koftas. It’s a delicious combo of crumbled paneer and potatoes spiced with a little garam masala. These vegetarian meatballs or koftas are rolled in a very thin coating of cornflour and are deep fried until golden. While frying, the outer layer of koftas turn super crisp. Each bite is perfectly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Once the paneer koftas are fried, we’ll move on to making the onion paste for this malai kofta curry. The smooth and rich sauce of the curry obviously comes from this onion paste. To make this aromatic paste, we’ll fry up a few dry spices along with onions and tomatoes. Grind it to make a smooth paste. We’ll be adding this paste to the curry at a later stage of the cooking process. I totally love the silky smooth texture of the sauce, and that’s the key to making the perfect sauce to dunk the paneer koftas.
Next up, the final step - make malai kofta curry. We’ll start by sautéing a few spices and then add in onion paste along with few ground spices. You see, we’re adding up layers of flavors that’s going to make this curry totally irresistible. I also added dried fenugreek leaves or kasuri methi as it delivers a distinct aroma and flavor to this curry.
And finally, a dash of cream. As the name suggests, this curry must be creamy and rich which again makes it so perfect for any special occasion.
All that you need to do now is top the koftas with generous amounts of this creamy sauce and serve it warm. A final sprinkle of coriander (cilantro) leaves, and done.
This malai kofta sounds too complicated, but certainly worth the effort. Totally love this curry!
Malai Kofta | Video
Ingredients
Kofta:
- 1 cup crumbled paneer
- 2 small potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed
- 3 tablespoon cornflour
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 2 tablespoon cornflour
- Ssalt to taste
- Oil for frying
Onion paste:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 4 green cardamom pods crushed
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4 cloves
- 1 cup chopped onions
- 1 inch fresh ginger chopped
- 4 garlic cloves chopped
- 2 small tomatoes chopped
- 10 cashew nuts
Malai kofta:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 green cardamom pods crushed
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
- 2 tablespoon tomato purée tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon red chili powder
- A pinch of white sugar
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- ¼ cup cream
- Salt to taste
- Chopped coriander cilantro leaves, to garnish
Instructions
Kofta:
- Combine together paneer, potatoes, 1 tablespoon cornflour and garam masala in a large bowl. Season with salt. Make 10 paneer balls out of the mixture.
- Place 2 tablespoon cornflour in a wide bowl. Roll the balls in cornflour. Meanwhile, heat oil for deep frying in a heavy bottomed pan. Add paneer balls in batches, and deep fry until golden brown. Drain on an absorbent towel. Set aside.
Onion paste:
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves. Sauté, stirring constantly, for a few seconds. Add onions, ginger and garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes or until onions turn soft and translucent.
- Add tomatoes and cashew nuts. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes or until tomatoes break down and turn mushy. Remove from heat. Leave to cool slightly. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Malai kofta:
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom pods. Sauté, stirring constantly, for few seconds or until fragrant. Add ginger and garlic. Sauté, stirring constantly, for 1 minute or until aromatic.
- Add onion paste and tomato paste. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until oil separates. Add garam masala, coriander powder and red chili powder. Season with salt. Sauté, stirring constantly, for a minute.
- Add sugar. Cover with enough water to make thick sauce. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add kasuri methi. Reduce heat to low. Stir in cream. Heat through.
- Place koftas in the sauce just before serving. Garnish with chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves.
Video
Notes
- Perfect with parathas, naan, roti or rice
Nutrition
Like this malai kofta curry? Then join Nish Kitchen on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram. Watch exclusive recipe videos on YouTube. Check out more recipes:
- Paneer Butter Masala
- Chili Paneer
- Cheesy Paneer Pav Bhaji Sliders
- Spicy Paneer Sandwich
- Tandoori Paneer Quesadilla
- Paneer kathi Roll (Paneer Wraps Indian Style)
Hazel says
I love Malai Kofta, very yummy.. !!!
Pooja Saha says
Love this recipe 🙂