By Tript Arora
Malai Kofta is a vegetarian dish made on special occasions. There are so many recipes for this lip smacking dish.  But the authentic one is fried cottage cheese dumplings in rich onion, tomato and cashew gravy finished with cream. The cottage cheese is crushed with the palm of a hand till it achieves a creamy smooth texture just like malai. The gravy is also silky smooth. Both koftas and gravy melt in the mouth. The dumplings are fried on a slow flame so that they are cooked well from inside but should not get brown from outside.
We Need
200 gm Cottage Cheese, 2 Tsp All purpose Flour, 1 Tsp Corn flour, 2 Tsp Milk Powder/ Khoya, 6 pieces Cashew Nuts, 8 pieces Raisins, ½ Tsp Salt, Oil for frying
For Gravy
1 Big Onion, 4 Tomatoes, 8 pods Garlic, 1″ Ginger piece, 1 Green Chilli, 12 pieces Cashew Nut, 2 Green Cardamom, 2″ Piece Cinnamon, 2 Tbsp Butter, 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil, ½ Tsp Turmeric Powder, ½ Tsp Red Chilli Powder, 1 Tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder, 1 Tbsp Kasuri Methi, 1 Tsp Sugar, Salt to taste, 100 gm Cream.
Here We Go
– Grate or crumble Cottage cheese in a wide bowl. Add all purpose flour, corn flour & milk powder or khoya. Now with the help of your palm mash and mix everything till  smooth. The whole dough should be very smooth just like malai. Add a little salt.
– Chop cashew nuts and raisins finely. Set aside.
– Now grease your hands with oil and take a small ball out of the dough. Flatten it. Put a small amount of cashew and raisin mix. Now cover the mix with the dough shaping it like a ball. Prepare all the koftas like this. This mix will approximately make 10 koftas .
– Heat oil in a pan. Keep the flame to low and fry all koftas till they are fully cooked and are of golden brown colour. Set aside.
– For the gravy roughly chop onions, ginger ,tomatoes, green chilli and garlic.
– Heat oil in a pan and add onions. When these are transparent add ginger, garlic, cashews and tomatoes. Add salt, turmeric and red chilli powder. Saute till the tomatoes are mushy. Add 1 cup water and cover the pan. Cook for ten minutes turning it in between. After ten minutes, switch off the flame and let it cool.
– When the masala is cooled completely add it to a grinder jar and grind to a smooth paste.
– Heat a pan , add butter and oil. When heated add green cardamom and cinnamon. Roast for ten seconds till the flavours are incorporated in the butter.
– Take out the masala from the mixer jar and add it to the pan. Adjust the consistency with milk or water. I prefer milk. Crush kasoori methi in your palms and add this to the gravy. Cover the pan and let it simmer for five minutes on low flame or till the gravy leaves oil.
– Finish the gravy with cream and switch off the flame.
– To serve line up koftas in a pan and pour hot gravy on it. For garnish pour some fresh cream over it. Serve hot with garlic naan for awesome results.
Tips: Add cream after Switching off the flame otherwise it will curdle. The Cottage cheese should be mashed vigorously to achieve a perfect smooth texture of the Koftas. Don’t Brown the Koftas.