Malai Kofta Curry


One of our favourite curries in all Indian restaurants is the Malai Kofta. In fact, my husband uses this dish as his criterion for judging restaurants:) The place that can dish out a rich, delicious and freshly-spiced Kofta Curry goes on his wishlist. Though I've made similar curries before, I had never really ventured into making the authentic malai kofta, but when we planned a pre-Diwali dinner with family and friends, I knew it's now or never!! So I made the Malai Kofta Curry and am proud to say that it was a hit with everyone and was also complimented as being "restaurant-style"!! This dish does involve some planning and preparation time, but at the end, it is truly worth it.

Ingredients

For Koftas
2 cups Paneer - grated
3 Potatoes - boiled and mashed
1 cup Green Peas
1 small Carrot boiled and grated
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 1/2 tsp Kitchen King Masala
3-4 tbsp Maida
2 tbsp Cashews slit in halves
3 tbsp Raisins
Oil for deep frying
Salt to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice

For Gravy
2 medium Onions - finely chopped
1 can of Tomato Puree
12-15 Cashews
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Kitchen King Masala
2 tsp Jeera
1 tbsp Cumin-Coriander Powder
2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 cup Fresh or Whipping Cream
1 inch Cinnamon Stick
2 Green Cardamon
2 Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
1 big tbsp Tandoori Masala
1 tbsp Oil/Ghee
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method

For Koftas
Mix the boiled and grated carrot, green peas, boiled and mashed potatoes and the grated paneer in a big bowl. Add the garam masala, kitchen king masala, salt, lemon juice, turmeric powder and maida and mix them well using your hands. Do not add water. In fact, remove any water from boiled vegetables to make a thick mixture that can be rolled into tight balls.

Make small egg-shaped balls and deep fry them in batches in hot oil at slow to medium flame till they turn golden brown and crisp from outside. Transfer the fried koftas on paper towel to remove excess oil. If you see that your koftas break while frying, try rolling them in more maida or bread crumbs before frying.

For Gravy
Blend the tomato puree with cashews, kitchen king masala, cunim-coriander powder, garam masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder to smooth paste; add 3 tbsp water to form a liquid paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add jeera, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf and saute it for a few mins, then add the chopped onions to it till they are pinkish golden in color. Add the ginger-garlic paste, and then the tomato-cashew puree. Add 1 1/2 cups water and mix well to form the gravy. When it starts simmering, add the dry spices, salt and whipping cream and cook for further 10-15 minutes over a low flame. If you think it is thick and need to make it liquid, add some whole milk. Finally add the tandoori masala to get the nice yellow color. Remove from heat, mix in finely chopped coriander and keep it aside.

When it's time to serve, arrange the koftas in a serving dish, pour the gravy over them and garnish with fresh cream and chopped coriander. Serve hot with Parathas or Jeera Rice! Hope this delicious Malai Kofta curry finds a place on your dinner table and helps liven your meal, just as it did ours!

Similar Recipes:
Doodhi/Lauki Kofta Curry
Hariyali Paneer Koftas


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31 comments :

Siri said...

So true Mansi, "Malai Kofta" is a good benchmark to judge a reataurant.. its such a classic..:) waiting for peach roundup ..:D

Sona - quick picks/pick quicks said...

yum yum yumm

Swati said...

Malai kofta is a delicacy and a fav at my place too...your spread looks very tempting!!..

amna said...

my number 2 choice when i order veg in a restaurant.. no 1 is paneer of course :)

FH said...

Delicious pre-Diwali spread. I made a few too this weekend!:))
Malai Kofta is always a claasic, looks great. Enjoy Mansi!:))

AnuSriram said...

Looks like you are inviting me for dinner.... Malai kofta is so yummy..... thanks for the recipe!

Kribha said...

It's quiet a great spread you have there. Malai kofta is truly a classic and it's been ages since I made this. Got to do it soon. Your recipe sounds good and so does your pic. Thanks for sharing.

Rina said...

Malai Kofta curry is fav for all. Your table of dish looks gr8, I'm coming in to dine.

Lissie said...

delicious malai koftas! love to have them with kulchas...

Swaruchy said...

wow...wonderful spread mansi........YUM :-)) the Malai Kofta looks great ;-)

Laavanya said...

Sia's recipe has been tempting me for a while too. Then i saw it on the yum blog and now yours... yummy. Now, what do we have to do to get an invitation to your party? :D

Mansi said...

glad eveyone liked the dish! this is Diwali time, and I extend an open invitation to all of you to come visit us and enjoy this meal:) I had a busy time preparing all this...now I just wish to rest...:)

Richa said...

lovely looking table setup :)

Nabeela said...

I have a malai murgh recipe marked that I'm d.y.i.n.g to try...but if that one doesn't work out, I am so coming over here!
Your dish looks very creamy...just what we need in these cold days :)

Sia said...

wooaha.... beautiful dish mansi. i love love and love koftas. glad my post inspired u to cook these:)

Cynthia said...

I would love to taste this. Will bookmark the recipe to try when I have friends over who I think would enjoy having this.

Anonymous said...

Hi Mansi, I am Sheetal lives in ashburn, Va.I tried ur "Malai Kofta Curry", and it was great.We all loved that dish.Keep posting such nice dishes. Thanks a lot.

-Sheetal

Anonymous said...

Mansi,
Great recipe.. Please can you let me know what brand of Kitchen King Masala and Tandoori masala you used for this recipe. I know there are lot of different brands, so want to use the one you used for this dish.

Mansi said...

Hi priya - I use the Shaan Tandoori masala and for all other masalas, including Kitchen King, I use Everest or Baadshah

let me know how it goes!:) and thanks for visiting Fun and Food:)

Anonymous said...

Good recipe. Hubby and Baby freaked out. Thanks a ton

Luv2cook said...

I tried this recipe and it came out very well. People were thrilled with the result. Thanks for sharing it!

Amita said...

I made Malai Kofta using your recipe on Mother's Day and it turned out great. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe.

Anonymous said...

hi mansi ! tried ur recipe, turned out finger-licking fabulous ! thanx.. exact restaurant taste !

Mansi said...

Thanks Abhi! this blog thrives on compliments like yours! I'm really glad it worked out well for you, and thanks so much for taking time to leave your feedback for me and others!:)

Happy Cooking!

Pakcola said...

Hi Mansi

What size can of tomato puree do you use?

Also are you supposed to grind the cashews into the kofta or just leave them as pieces?

One more

How much salt? I really have no idea

Thanks

Mansi said...

Hi pacola, You should use about 8-10 tbsp of tomato puree, generally half the size of a regular can u get in the US. The cashews should only be halved/split, but do not grind them.

As for salt, I'd say start with about 2 teaspoon, then check for taste and add more if you like. It really depends on the quantity, so its hard to be exact, so start with less, and add more later:)

hope this helps!:)

Sol Connection said...

Thankyou!! this sauce recipe is awesome!!!!, and i have tried many malai kofta sauce recipes, this is definately restaurant quality when all the other recipes have failed to get quite there.

small tip: if you put everything in the blender just before the cream stage you will get a smoother end product.

have a nice day
-Dan

ps. for any non Americans, 'tomato puree' is otherwise known as passata di pomodoro and often comes in jars looking like this: http://www.fiutaprezzi.com/images/standard/30_8f08db81ceda1ee3daa9621f7fe4a304.jpg

at first i thought you were talking about 'tomato paste'
but that would be too strong for the dish.

Sol Connection said...

just making this again but noticed something in the recipe and i don't remember what i did last time.

when making the sauce towards the end it says to 'put in the dry spices'

what are these? all spices have already been put in at this point except the tandoori marsala, which it says to add near the end.

thanks for your help
:)

Mansi said...

Hi sol,

u r right, only the tandoori masala is left. but you can choose to add the spices later in the gravy rather than blending them with the tomato puree. Either method should work:)

thanks for pointing out the typo:)

Sol Connection said...

Thanks Mansi, i just ignored the line in the end.
Just finished making it for the second time and i just think the is the best kofta gravy recipe ever!!! I have been looking for something like this for so long, thankyou!

ps. I add a tsp of sugar to it just to make it a touch sweeter.
pps. My red chili powder is *very* hot, i only added two tsp instead of the two tbsp recommended and it was still quite hot (but in a good way), we love our heat here but two tbsp would have killed it. Just a warning for anyone out there that chili powder intensity can vary quite a bit.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! Just like in the restaurant that we ate at in Minneapolis. I'm not real crazy about the kofta part, but the curry sauce is excellent! Thanks for posting.