I first had paneer malai kofta curry as a kid at a restaurant in my neighborhood and it was probably the best vegetarian dish I have ever savored. I still remember biting into that cottage cheese dumpling, with the nuts and raisins and finally that smooth creamy white gravy to finish that delicious bite. Layers of goodness, I say 🙂 Unfortunately, whenever I ordered this at other restaurants, they came up with a red malai kofta curry, much to my dismay. Not that it isn’t good, but when you expect something and receive something else, you sure do feel disappointed. I realized later that this dish has two variations, one nutty and cream based which gives it that awesome cream color and the other one is tomato based. In the white gravy, no spice powders are used to distort the color of the gravy, standing true to its name ‘ malai ‘ which means cream in Hindi. Even the kofta balls are fried ever so gently to prevent them from browning, so as to maintain the cream color. The spice comes from the chillies and the sweetness and nuttiness from the cashew nuts, cream, and cardamom. A little warning- if you are counting calories, forget it !! Please don’t! This is definitely indulgent 🙂 I have been wanting to make this at home, but the ingredients that I found online didn’t strike a chord with the flavors I was looking for until I came across this recipe by Chef Harpal. He very rightly describes this dish as ‘hot rasmalai’, which very much is a savory version to the popular Bengali sweet rasmalai.
I hope you aren’t terrified by the long list of ingredients, yes it’s a lengthy procedure and time consuming, but hey it’s worth the effort once in a while. And this is a really easy malai kofta recipe, minimally spiced and on the sweeter side. You should definitely try it next time for a change from the red gravy version!
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PANEER KOFTA CURRY, THEN YOU MAY ALSO LOVE THESE INDIAN PANEER DISHES
Matar Paneer Paneer Makhani Paneer Nazakat Shahi Paneer Paneer Kali Mirch
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PUNJABI PANEER KOFTA | PANEER MALAI KOFTA
PREPARATION OF PANEER KOFTA | PANEER KE KOFTE
1.In a pan on medium low heat, sauté cashew nuts and almonds for a minute, add raisins, sauté until they puff up. Remove from the pan and set aside. The stuffing is ready.
2.Grated the block of paneer, add khoya if using, mash nicely, now add cornstarch, salt to taste and cardamom powder. Knead this mixture well to form a dough.
3.Make a lemon sized ball, make a well in the center and add the stuffing mixture, seal all over and roll until the surface is nice and smooth.
4.Roll the prepared kofta balls in some cornstarch ( this prevents them from browning easily )and deep fry them, stirring slowly and carefully. Drain on a paper napkin and set aside. Let’s prepare the gravy.
PREPARATION OF MALAI KOFTA WHITE GRAVY
1.In a heavy bottomed pan, heat oil. When the oil is hot enough add bay leaves, cardamom, saute until fragrant.
2.Add boiled onion paste (see notes), saute for 3 minutes on medium heat.
3.Add ginger garlic paste and saute for another 3 to 4 minutes until oil starts oozing out.
4.Add cashew nut paste (see notes), slit green chillies and saute for the next 6 to 8 minutes. Whnits cooked cashew nut paste will form a lump and ooze out oil. Keep stirring to prevent it from burning.
5.Add 3 cups of water, stir and bring to a boil. Adjust as per desired consistency.
6.Once the gravy has boiled, you may strain for a smoother gravy. (This is optional) 7.Add butter, sugar, salt and cardamom powder. Stir well.
8.Finally, add 1/2 cup fresh cream, Give it a final stir.
TO ASSEMBLE THE DISH
1.To serve, put the prepared koftas in a serving platter and pour this luscious creamy gravy all over it. Serve immediately with some naan/paranthas.
NOTES
HOW TO MAKE PANEER KOFTA {MALAI KOFTA IN WHITE GRAVY} | SWEET MALAI KOFTA?
I would love to hear from you! You can write to me at [email protected] or send me a pic of your creation on the message tab of my facebook page Aromaticessence You can also follow me on : Facebook Pinterest Instagram Twitter Regards, Freda
