Malai Kofta is a traditional and a classic Punjabi delight, an impeccable dish to go with indian breads like naan, parathas or even simple chapati! The prime ingredient is cottage cheese or paneer dumplings, golden fried and soaked in a delicious creamy gravy bowl. Well I know it’s mouth watering! There’re many adapted versions of malai kofta, white gravy or orange-red gravy, I picked out the traditional malai kofta recipe, and here it is!
Gather these:
For the paneer dumplings/kofta
- cottage cheese or paneer grated – 100 grams
- potatoes medium size boiled and grated/mashed – 2
- corn flour – 1 tbsp
- almond meal/milk powder – 1 tbsp
- garam masala and red chilly powder – 1 teaspoon
- salt as per requirement
- oil for deep/shallow fry
For the creamy gravy
- ginger pasted – 1 tbsp
- garlic pasted – 1.5 tbsp (adjust the requirement..I LOVE GARLIC)
- cinnamon – 1 inch stick
- cardamoms – 2 crushed
- fenugreek/methi seeds – 1 teaspoon
- tomato puree – 2.5 cups
- onion paste – 1 cup
- cashew pasted(soaked in water and pasted) – 1 tbsp
- kasuri methi – 1 tbsp
- fresh cream – 1/2 cup
- fresh milk – 1 cup
- tandoori masala – 1 tbsp (adjust to your requirement)
- chilly powder – 1/2 tsp
- turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
- garam masala – 1 tsp
- butter to work on the gravy – 1 tbsp
Start with:
Paneer dumplings
- Mix all the ingredients under the head kofta except the oil. Use wet hands to roll them into cute medium sized balls.
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Deep fry or shallow fry these babies until golden brown.
- These are your koftas/paneer dumplings.
Creamy Gravy
- Heat butter in a pan and throw the cardamoms, cinnamon and fenugreek seeds. When they get slightly roasted or oil starts to splatter all over the place, add the ginger and garlic paste and mix them well.
- Now add the onion paste and mix it well with the ginger and garlic paste for 1 to 2 minutes. When done with that, add the tomato puree and kasuri methi. Now the flavor game begins!
- Reduce the tomato puree, that is, simmer it until the oil separates from the puree and the whole kitchen starts to smell good! Do this with covered pan to avoid a messy stove top.
- Add the garam masala, tandoori masala, turmeric powder and chilly powder. Mix it well to get a lumpfree gravy. Add the cashew paste followed by milk to it, mix it thoroughly over low flame, leave it for maximum of two minutes.
- In the meanwhile, check the salt and heat and adjust it accordingly.
- Add the golden fried koftas to it and leave it for almost a minute for them to indulge in the creamy sauce.
- Finish the process with the addition of cream. After 10-15 seconds, shut the flame off, garnish with kasuri methi or coriander leaves and you have a punjabi dish on your dinner table!
culinary bite 
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