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Malai Kofta in a white bowl on top of black plates with coriander at the back
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Delicious Malai Kofta

Crispy Potato and Paneer Balls served in a rich, creamy sauce makes a heavenly special occassion dish
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: indian dish, kofta, malai kofta, vegetarian
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Kofta

  • 3 medium potatoes, 1&1/2 cup mashed boiled
  • 1/2 cup paneer crumbled
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tbsp chopped corainder
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint
  • 1 green chilli finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp cornflour
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • pepper
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil for frying

Sauce

  • 1 tbsp butter ghee
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 10 cashew nuts
  • 3 cloves
  • 3 elachie/cardamom
  • 1 x 3cm cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaf
  • 2 green chillies (optional)
  • 2 roma tomatoes roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp ground soomph/fennel
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp dried methi leaves
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup fresh cream
  • salt

Instructions

Kofta

  • Scrub the potatoes and boil them until tender. Do not let them disintergrate, they just need to be soft or it will be too mushy when making the Koftas
  • At high altitude the potatoes took about 30 minutes to cook
  • Peel the potatoes, use a masher to mash them and allow them to cool
  • Mix in the cumin, coriander, mint, crumbled paneer and cornflour. Roll them into equal sized balls. Set aside
  • Once sauce is ready, heat the oil in a pan and fry the koftas, ensuring all sides are brown and serve with the sauce.

Sauce

  • Heat the vegetable oil in a pot. Add the cinnamon stick, bay leaf, cloves and elachie and fry until fragrant
  • Add the onion and cashew nuts and allow them to fry until the onion is golden brown
  • Add the chillies and ginger/garlic paste and fry for a minute
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and the water. Allow it to simmer until the tomatoes are cooked, about 10 minutes
  • Once the tomatoes are cooked, remove the bay leaf and allow it to cool a little. Place in a blender and blend until the sauce is smooth. Strain the sauce, through a sieve, if it's not totally smooth
  • Heat the butter ghee in a pan and add the sauce back to the pan. Add the spices, chilli powder, coriander, cumin, soomph and garam masala. Rub the dried methi leaves with your fingers and add it to the sauce. Season with salt and add the sugar. Cook for 2 minutes and add the cream

Notes

  1. I served this dish with something else on the side but if you're serving it on it's own I suggest you double the recipe
  2. You can make the sauce ahead of time and fry the koftas when serving
  3. Although I added less paneer it was still delicious, you can reduce the amount of potatoes and add more paneer if you wish
  4. You can also add some cheese to the koftas, tastes yummy
  5. Although I found shallow fried koftas worked for me you can deep fry them if you prefer
  6. If you don't like too much heat leave out the chilli