One of my favorite dishes! I am a dairy lover, and Malai Kofta hits the spot because it is decadent and flavorful. It is definitely one of the more complicated recipes to learn but it paid off when we sat down to eat for lunch.
Main dish for: 4 people. Prep Time: 30 minutes. Cook Time: 30 minutes. Note: pay attention to whether recipe asks for seeds, powder, or leaves – it matters.
Ingredients for Cutlets:
- 4 slices of bread, with crust removed
- 5 boiled potatoes
- 2 cups paneer
- fresh coriander leaves
- flour + water coating paste
- oil for deep frying
Ingredients for Paste:
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 3 inches ginger
- 2 green chillies
- 8-10 almonds
- ?? powder for paste
- ?? cashews for paste
- water, for consistency
Ingredients for the Gravy:
- 2 onions finely chopped
- 2 pieces of cloves
- 2 small cardamom
- 1 big cardamom
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- ?? powder on the plate
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- ?? dried methi leaves
- tomato puree
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or yogurt
- 1 cup milk
The Process:
- Prepare the slices of bread, and the items for the paste as listed in the ingredients section.
2. Prepare the potatoes and paneer. Crush the bread, potatoes, paneer, and coriander leaves all together in a big bowl. Heat some oil in a wok to deep fry these cutlets soon.
3. Once all mixed together, form cutlet balls from the mix.
4. Create a small coating paste using flour and water. Submerge the cutlet balls in the coating for a brief bit.
5. Once the oil is heated up for deep drying, fry the cutlet balls (one by one if this is your first time, more together if you are experienced!)
6. Let the cutlets cool, and if desired, let them rest on a paper towel to take care of the excess oil.
7. While the cutlets are cooling and hardening, put the paste ingredients from earlier in a small blender bottle.
8. Put water, as needed, to create a thick paste. Also, finely chop onions to sautee in a pan.
9. Now you’ll have 2 woks/pans, one for frying the onion, and the other for the spices and cream(or “malai”) part of the gravy. In one of the woks, heat up some oil and put the cumin seeds, cloves, both cardamom, and cinnamon when the oil is hot enough.
10. Add the paste you created from earlier in the small blender with the almonds, garlic, ginger, etc. Be careful as this action will cause some spatter.
11. In the other wok, begin to sautee the onions you chopped. Also, take out the powdered spices (turmeric, chili, cumin, garam masala, ??).
12. The wok with the paste should be thickening a bit more, keep stirring it and making sure it doesn’t stick to the wok. Add the powdered spices now.
13. Keep sauteeing the onions as it turns darker pink. You’ll want to caramelize these over the time.
14. Put methi in the wok with the paste and powdered spices.
15. The wok with the paste should look like the picture below. Add a little bit of coriander leaves to the wok with the onions.
16. Add some water to the wok with the paste, once dried up.
17. Add tomato puree along with the water and mix in well.
18. Add the completely caramelized onions into the paste with powdered spices and tomatoes. Together this is the gravy taking shape.
19. Add heavy cream and some more water depending on desired consistency of gravy.
20. Add the milk to the gravy, letting it come to a boil.
21. Lastly, put the cutlets fully into the runny gravy, letting the malai kofta simmer. Serve with fresh warm roti or naan and enjoy!!
