Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Mmmm Malai Kofta


Kofta is something I had never made before. Really strange..somehow this has always evaded my cooking list till date. This recipe is from my dear friend Prajakta. We were sidies (a slang term meaning people staying in next door dorm rooms :) ) during our undergraduate days and were good acquaintances at that time. Now we work in the same company and have become good friends. We had to come all the way across the world to get to know each other better! :) It has been over a year since she gave me this recipe. It was a big hit when she made it for her son's birthday. I recently got a chance to make it when R's Bua-ji and Phuffa-ji were visiting us. It turned out good. Posting this here to share with everyone and for future reference.

Just this weekend, when we visited my SIL, she had made a similar kofta with potato and cauliflower. That was yummy and a good variation from the paneer koftas. I think even well-cooked peas can be added to these koftas.


Ingredients (Makes eight to ten servings)

Potatoes - 2 cup
Paneer/Cottage Cheese - 2 cup

Corn flour: 6 tbsp
Salt - as per taste
Ginger - 1/2 inch, about 1 tbsp
Garglic - 6 cloves, about 2 tbsp
Fresh ground pepper - 1/4 tsp
Green chillis - 4-5 chopped

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion: 1 medium
Yogurt - 1 cup
Ground Poppy seeds: 1 tbsp
Tumeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala: 1 tsp
Curry powder - 1/2 tsp
Tomato: 2 medium
Heavy cream - 4 tbsp
Coriander leaves - a few sprigs

Canola oil - 2 tbsp + extra for frying the koftas

Cooking:

Soak the ground poppy seed in yogurt and keep it aside.

Boil potatoes and peel them.Mash them and mix it with grated paneer. Add corn flour, salt, ginger, garlic, pepper and chillies. Make small balls or squares of this dough and fry at medium heat. Koftas are ready.

In separate container heat 2 tbsp canola oil, add cumin seeds, onion(finely chopped or grated). Once onion turns pink, add the poppy seeds and yogurt mixture to it. Mix well. You can even grind this. Add turmeric powder, curry powder and garam masala to this. When the paste is well cooked, add tomatoes and 3 cups of water. Add salt. When this is well done, add fresh cream and cook for a few minutes.

Just before serving add the koftas to the curry. If you add koftas to the curry and cook, they will break since the koftas are very soft. Add finely chopped coriander before serving as garnish.

Enjoy with warm rotis or rice pulav with raita/papad.

17 comments:

Sharmila said...

Hmmm ... never tried malai kofta .. have tried kofta with lauki though.Poppy seeds in yogurt?Gotta try. :-)

Finla said...

Kofta i hav eonly tried once and it was a disaster, i deep fired them and saw them just disapearing in the oil after that never tried them, this looks so yumm.

Sharmi said...

I love malai koftas. tried it once , yet to post. your version looks delicious.

Sagari said...

malai kofta looks very good

Sagari said...

malai kofta looks deleciousssss

Sunshinemom said...

Great recipe followed by beautiful pictures.I used to make this so often that I bloated! Now it is limited to once a year, max too:)

Saju said...

that truely looks delish! I can't wait to try it.

Cynthia said...

My aunt loves this dish but her husband did not so she would only make it at holidays :)

Pragyan said...

Hi Sharmila: I look forward to your lauki kofta recipe. Sounds interesting. Heard of it first from my co-sister here.

Hi Happy cook: Well, these were also very soft. Maybe you need to add more corn-flour or something else like that.

Hi Sharmi: Nice to hear from you after so long. Look forward to your Malai Kofta version..

Hi Sagari: Thanks,dear!

Hi Sunshinemom: Thanks for the kind compliments! I know exactly what you mean.. :)

Hi Saju: Hope you tried and liked it! :)

Hey Cynthia: That's a nice family-memory food-trivia :) Great to hear from you, as always!

Anonymous said...

Mmmmm indeed. I love this dish and even tho it is a lot of tedious work i love making it:-D

to make it faster, i make the makhani (the main sauce) masala in bulk & freeze it. then just make the koftas and add to the sauce with creme. i also spend a lot of time stuffing my koftas with nuts raisins, ginger etc. becoz i feel they will all split in the oil...

let me know how ur koftas don't split when u mix the chopped ginger etc to the dough.

Unknown said...

Dear Pragyan, I need to bookmark this as it sounds awesome.My veggie friends will love it.Thanks for sharing and the picture is very tempting.

Pragyan said...

HiSoma: Just left a comment on your blog. The corn-flour and making the mixture less runny helps in preventing the mixture from breaking. Thanks for the idea of making the sauce in advance.

Hey Shibani: Yes, it is a veggie delight! New twist to the same old paneer.

Dori said...

Great, I love this dish... Looks so delicious!

Pragyan said...

Hi Meeso: Thanks for visiting and this lovely compliment! :)

Trupti said...

malai kofta looks very delicious.

Preety said...

yummm, my husband loves this..but never made it..looks delicious

Pragyan said...

Hello Trupti: Thanks for visiting and the sweet little comment. Appreciate it.

Hi Preety: Thanks, dear! It is quite delicious..I recently saw someone post a microwave version of it..should try it someday!