Malai Kofta is a rich, creamy, delicious curry with melt in mouth Koftas. Kofta is usually a ball of meat. But in this regard, it is made with potato and paneer. It does not contain meat. Malai is nothing but fresh cream. When full fat milk is boiled, it forms a thick fat layer on top which is called Malai/Cream. Earlier I shared recipe of Methi Matar Malai where cream is used to induce richness in the gravy.

This vegeterian creamy dish is loved by everyone from kids to elders since koftas become soft once dunked in a smooth onion tomato gravy. Cashews and cream make this rich and creamy.

This curry can be served with naan, chapati, paratha or rice. The best part is koftas can be made well ahead of time and stored. When you are ready just dunk them in the gravy and leave for couple of minutes. They become soft.

Step by Step Recipe of Malai Kofta:

The recipe is divided into 3 parts. Preparing koftas, preparing gravy and assembling the final dish. Let’s look at the ingredients we need.

How to make Koftas:

  • In a bowl, add boiled and mashed potatoes. Also add crumbled paneer, chopped coriander leaves, finely chopped green chili, salt.
  • Roughly mix and add corn starch. See if the mixture binds well, if not add more corn starch.
  • Make balls out of this mixture and keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a kadhai for frying koftas. Once hot, drop prepared koftas in oil one by one and fry on high heat. Make sure they don’t break in oil.
  • Once these turn golden brown, remove on paper towel.

How to make Gravy:

  • Heat oil and butter in a pan. Add bay leaf and cumin seeds.
  • Add chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. Saute and cook until onions become translucent.
  • Later on add tomatoes and salt. Cook until tomatoes become mushy.
  • Once tomatoes become soft, add turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala and sugar.
  • Once tomatoes are mushy, add soaked cashews.
  • Add water and cook for 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.
  • Add this mixture to blender and blend into a smooth puree.
  • Strain the puree through strainer to get the smooth gravy.
  • Transfer this gravy to a sauce pan. Add water if required and bring it to boil.
  • Once cooked, turn off the heat and add cream.
  • Mix well. Gravy is ready.

How to assemble Malai Kofta Curry:

  • Pour prepared gravy in a bowl. Add koftas on top. Smear some cream, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Indian flat bread.
  • Once ready to eat, gently coat koftas with gravy.
Print
Malai Kofta Curry
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hr
 

Malai Kofta is rich, creamy curry with paneer and potato dumplings.

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: cream, malai kofta
Ingredients
Ingredients for Koftas:
  • 2 Potatoes Boiled and Mashed
  • 1 cup Paneer Crumbled
  • 1 Green Chili finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup Coriander leaves finely chopped
  • 1 cup Corn Starch or Corn Flour
  • Oil For frying
  • Salt per taste
  • Raisins and Cashews Optional
Ingredients for Gravy:
  • 1 Onion Medium chopped
  • 2 Tomatoes Medium chopped
  • 1/4 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Red chili Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp Oil + Butter
  • 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
  • 13-14 Cashews
  • 1 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1/2 tsp Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp Kasuri Methi
  • Salt per taste
How-To
How-To make Koftas:

  1. In a bowl, add boiled and mashed potatoes. Also add crumbled paneer, chopped coriander leaves, finely chopped green chili, salt.

  2. Roughly mix and add corn starch. See if the mixture binds together, if not add little more corn starch.

  3. Make round balls out of this mixture and keep aside.

  4. Heat oil in a kadhai for frying koftas. Once hot, drop prepared koftas one by one and fry on high heat. Make sure koftas don't break in oil.

  5. Once these turn golden brown, take out and keep on paper towel.

How-To make Gravy:

  1. Heat oil and butter in a pan. Add bay leaf and cumin seeds.

  2. Add chopped onion and ginger garlic paste. Saute and cook until onions turn translucent.

  3. Later on add tomatoes and salt. Cook until tomatoes become mushy.

  4. Once tomatoes become soft, add turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala and sugar.

  5. Once tomatoes are mushy, add soaked cashews.

  6. Add enough water and cook for 5-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.

  7. Once mixture becomes cool, transfer to blender and blend into a smooth puree.

  8. Strain the mixture using strainer to get smooth gravy.

  9. Transfer this gravy to a pan. Add water if required and bring it to boil.

  10. Once cooked, switch off the flame and add cream. Mix well.

How-To assemble Malai kofta:

  1. Pour cooked gravy in a bowl. Then add koftas.

  2. Once ready to serve, gently mix koftas with curry. Smear some cream, garnish with coriander and serve.

You might also like:

Palak Paneer Recipe | Indian Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy
Green Coconut Chutney | Coconut Coriander Chutney Recipe
Dhaba Style Paneer Masala | Masala Paneer Recipe

One thought on “Malai Kofta Recipe | Creamy Kofta Curry”

  2. Awesome Pooja, so flavorful, gonna try this for sure 🙂

    Reply

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