Malai Kofta

Party food won't be complete without a curry and some flat breads so I make some curry goes very well with bread and rice.
As kids love paneer,my preference would be with that but whenever we need a change from paneer butter masala my go is rich creamy malai kofta.
Malai kofta is a rich creamy curry in which kofta(dumpling with cheese and potato) is made and added to a creamy rich gravy.
Originally the the koftas are deep fried in the oil but today I fried the koftas in paniyaram pan(ableskiver pan).Frying koftas in this method is little time consuming as it needs to cooked in a low flame.If you are in a hurry then it can be deep fried and added,I tried both the versions and couldn't make out the difference once it gets soaked in the gravy.
The recipe I am sharing is a low calorie version and didn't add any fresh cream,instead used the milk but if you want to make it even more rich you can add the fresh cream.
The recipe I adapted so many sources and tweaked according to my taste,now on to the recipe......................................

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Potato(cooked,mashed)	3/4cup
Paneer/cottage cheese(grated)	3/4cup
Green chilly (chopped)	1no.
Coriander leaves(finely chopped)	2tbs
Red chilly powder	1/4tsp
Garam masala powder	1/4tsp
Roasted cumin powder	1/8tsp
Cashews(chopped)	2tsp
Salt	3/4tsp
Oil	as needed to fry

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Onion(chopped)	1no.(medium size)
Tomato	3nos.(medium size)
Ginger&garlic paste	2tsp
Red chilly powder	3/4tsp
Coriander powder	1tsp
Garam Masala powder	1/4tsp
Cashews	5nos.
Milk	11/2-2cups
Coriander leaves	2tbs
Tomato ketchup	2tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil	3tbs
Butter	1tbs

Method

In a bowl take all the ingredients given for kofta except oil and mix it well.Take a small lemon size and smooth it,make a ball,keep it aside.

Heat the paniyaram pan and add few drops of oil to each hole and add the balls and fry it in a low flame.Turn the balls with the help of a spoon to all the sides to cook evenly.Once all the sides get browned take out from the pan and keep it aside.

Heat a pan with a tbs of oil,saute the onion and tomato with a pinch of salt till it becomes soft.Let the mixture gets cool down,after cooling grind it to a smooth paste.Then grind the cashews along with little milk to a fine paste.Heat a pan with the remaining oil and butter,add the ginger&garlic paste,fry it for a minute.Then add the ground paste and saute it for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the chilly powder,coriander powder and salt to it and cook it for a minute.At this point add the cashew paste and milk,let it boil till the raw smell goes off.

Add the tomato ketch up and give it a boil.Finally add the garam masala powder and coriander leaves,mix it well.Put off the flame.Add the koftas to it.

Serve it with Naaan or Pulao.

Enjoy.............................................................................

• The milk should be in room temperature and I used the low fat milk which can be substituted with whole milk.
• If you are using cream add it in the end and mix the gravy then add the koftas.In such case reduce the amount of milk to 1 cup and use 1/2 cup of cream.
• Addition tomato ketchup is optional but it gives a nice color and taste to the gravy.
• When you are deep frying the koftas,if it separates in the oil add couple of tbs of all purpose flour to the mixture.
• Add the koftas before 10 minutes of serving,heat the gravy and add the koftas to it.I added only 3 koftas just for the picture sake and added the rest before serving.

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