Malai Kofta

Recipe : Updated for instant pot series

One day when I was making cutlet, I boiled excess aloo and other vegetables. Immediately it struck my mind "why not malai kofta" :p Actually what I am trying to say here is making malai kofta is no different from making cutlet. With only a little variations.

• Preparation time: 20 mins

• cooking time 25 mins

• Serves: 3 (Makes 7-8 Koftas)

This recipe brings back memory of me and my brother standing in the kitchen trying out new dishes and making a mess :) He is an adventurer when it comes to cooking. I miss cooking along with him in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

For Kofta:

1. Paneer finely grated - 1/4 cup

2. Cashewnuts (as per ur wish)

3. Potato boiled, peeled, mashed - 1

4. Carrot peeled and chopped - 1

5. Green beans chopped - 4 or 5

6. Green chillies - 1 or 2

7. Fenugreek leaves - 1 tsp

8. Garam masala - 1 tsp

9. Coriander powder - 1 tsp

10. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

11. Bread - 1

12. Milk - 2 tbsp

13. All purpose flour / Corn Starch - for dusting and rolling

14. Salt to taste

15. oil to fry

For Gravy

1. Milk about 1/2 cup / Heavy cream - 4 tbsp

2. Grated Paneer - 1/4 cup

3. Whole cashewnuts - 1/4 cup

4. Tomatoes - 2

5. Onion - 1

6. Fenugreek leaves

7. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

9. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

10. Coriander powder - 2 tsp

11. Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

12. Salt to taste

13. Ghee / Butter for cooking.

 

DIRECTIONS TO MAKE KOFTAS:

Take oil in a frying pan and heat it.

Roughly chop beans and carrot,green chilli, bread soaked in milk and cashews. Now blend or chop everything together with boiled potato. After adding all the spices and salt to that along with few tbsps of grated paneer make a fine dough. Before making balls out of the sticky dough, dust the board or surface with all purpose flour or corn starch. If you see the dough is having lots of moisture add few dry bread crumbs to it.

Make the dough into even sized balls. Now cover the dough balls in the maida/corn flour and deep fry in the oil until its gets golden brown.

Please note, do not add or fry the vegetables like beans and carrot and add it to the mixture, because it does not allow the paneer to bind with mixture and the kofta's would break while frying

Yummy Koftas are ready.

DIRECTION TO MAKE THE GRAVY:

VERSION 1 : Skillet method

Heat 1 tbsp butter/ghee in a pan and fry the onions, cashew and ginger garlic till light brown, then add tomatoes. Grind this into fine paste. Once again add little ghee and then add all the spices mentioned above to the paste, once the raw smell is gone after few seconds add the grated paneer and fenugreek leaves

Cover it with a lid for 2-3 mins so that paneer would get all the flavours. Once the gravy is cooked, add milk / cream and bring the sauce to a boil and mix well.

VERSION 2 : Electric pressure cooker method

Roughly chop onion tomatoes and cashew nuts to that add spices and salt. Pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes with no water added. If used as Pot in Pot (PIP) in instant pot add water underneath and no water in the sauce pot. Once the pressure is released naturally (about in 5 minutes), take out and blend to smooth paste. 

Heat the main pot in saute mode and add a tbsp of ghee. Once hot add cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste. After few seconds, add in the blended gravy. To that add milk. partially cover with the lid and cook on low heat for 5 mins. Switch off add grated paneer and fenugreek leaves and enjoy

Add kofta to the gravy just before serving.

Enjoy and Happy Cooking