Chhanar Kofta curry/Malai Kofta
Chhanar Kofta curry or malai kofta is a popular North Indian dish in which chenna or paneer is made into koftas and served with a silky sauce and of course with loads of malai or cream. Unlike chhanar dalna which is a no onion no garlic preparation chhanar kofta curry uses lots of onion and garlic in its sauce preparation.
My connection with chhanar kofta curry is very quirky. Ever since I have come to Israel, I learnt that few of my colleagues and particularly one is a huge freak of malai kofta. So much so that every time she visits an Indian restaurant, she makes it a point to order malai kofta. And this craze of her is surprisingly not limited to Israel. She has traveled abroad, visited Indian restaurants there and ordered malai kofta. So, every time she orders malai kofta, she makes it a point to click an image of the food and send it over to me. Imagine how many pictures of malai kofta I must be having in my mobile. 😁😁😁
Then, she started nagging me for a recipe of a dish which I had never prepared in my life. It was then that I started looking for recipes over internet and came up with this recipe from few bloggers. Not only I had to give her a recipe, but also had to prepare this dish for her. So, one day when we were all having our lunch together in our office cafeteria, I offered her the malai kofta. After having the dish she said I want to get married to you!!!
Here I bring you the recipe of malai kofta or chhanar kofta curry. I am sure you will love it as well. Other kofta curries on my blog
Kanchakolar kofta curry/Raw banana kofta curry
Malai kofta
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: North Indian
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For Kofta
- 1 cup boil, peeled and mashed potato
- 1 cup chenna/paneer crumbled
- 3 tablespoons of cornflour
- 1 tablespoon of cashew nuts chopped
- 1 teaspoon of grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves
- Salt according to taste
- oil for frying
For the gravy
- 4 tablespoons of oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 1 cup of thinly sliced onions
- ½ inch ginger roughly cut
- 3-4 cloves of Garlic
- 2 tomatoes roughly chopped
- 4-5 green chilies
- 10-12 cashew nuts
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 inch of cinnamon stick broken
- 4-5 cardamom pods
- 1 star anise
- 2 tablespoons of kasuri methi/ dried fenugreek leaves
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 1½ teaspoon of cumin powder
- 1½ teaspoon of coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon of Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ cup water
- 2-3 tablespoon of fresh cream for garnishing
Directions
For the kofta
- Take all the ingredients of kofta in a bowl.
- Mash and mix all the ingredients properly in a bowl.
- Now, prepare the kofta balls and keep them aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and fry the koftas in batches.
- Do not overcrowd the pan.
For the gravy
- In a kadai, add 3 tablespoons of oil and heat it
- Once the oil is hot, temper the oil with bay leaves, cumin seeds, star anise, cinnamon and cardamom.
- As you start getting the aroma of the spices, add the sliced onions, tomato, green chilies, cashew nuts, ginger and garlic.
- Saute them on medium flame till the onions turn translucent. Do not brown the onions.
- Now, add the turmeric powder, cumin and coriander powder, red chili powder and salt followed by 1/4 cup of water.
- Continue cooking till the tomatoes turn mushy.
- Turn off the flame and cool the mixture.
- Now make a paste of all the components of the kadai and strain the mixture. You can add water to fasten the process.
- To a kadai add 1 tablespoon of kadai along with 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Now, add the strained mixture to the kadai and continue cooking on medium flame till the gravy achieves a sauce like consistency.
- Crush the kasuri methi with your thumbs and add them to the kadai and mix well.
- Let the gravy simmer on low flame for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the flame.
- Garnish the gravy with fresh cream. Add the koftas to the gravy just before serving. Adding the koftas to gravy much ahead makes the kofta soggy.
- Serve the chhanar kofta with naan, paratha or roti.
Thank you for stopping by. If you like the recipe do not forget to hit like. If you prepare this dish and publish your photos on Facebook and Instagram do tag #theepicureanfeast. Also for queries, you can mail me epicureanfeast2019@gmail.com
