This Malai Kofta Curry and creamy gravy make the dinner a mesmerizing moment. The kofta balls are made of cottage cheese(paneer) and potato.
This restaurant-style Malai kofta curry is a bright, flavorful side dish that pleases everyone with its color and taste. It is excellent to serve with Naan bread or roti.
Can you tell me an Indian restaurant that does not have Malai Kofta curry on its menu card? I did not come across one such restaurant in India or elsewhere.
About this recipe
All Indian restaurants have a few menus in standard curry, and 'Malai Kofta' can be listed in the top ten. I think restaurateurs include this in their menu cards for its richness and taste, making everyone like it.
The delicious aspect of this tasty Indian malai kofta curry recipe is effortless to prepare at home. This recipe requires the addition of fresh cream. We can substitute with light cream to suit our diet.
Are you searching for more side dish recipes for Roti and paratha? Do check Paneer Butter Masala, Moong Vadi Subji, Vegetable kurma, and Rajma masala
I love to serve Malai kofta curry with garden-fresh green salad, like Cantaloupe Salad, along with this gravy.
What is malai kofta made of?
The malai kofta means 'cream cheese balls,' made with Indian cottage cheese(paneer), boiled potatoes, cilantro, and rice flour. These are usually deep-fried and added to a creamy tomato gravy.
How to make Malai kofta curry
In a mixing bowl, mash the potato and add paneer, salt, and cilantro.
Combine them well and make this mixture into small balls.
Add 2 teaspoons of rice flour and two tablespoons of water in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until no lumps are seen.
Dip each paneer ball in the rice flour batter and shallow fry them in vegetable oil till the kofta becomes golden brown. Keep aside.
Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and chopped onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, and coriander powder in medium heat. Fry until the onion becomes soft. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
And add it to the blender and grind the above-sauteed ingredients.
Over medium heat, in a pan, add oil and shahi jeera and allow to sizzle for 20-30 seconds.
Then add the ground paste and cook them on medium to low heat till the oil separates. Add two cups of water and bring it again to boil.
Cook until it reaches the desired consistency.
Now add fresh cream, the koftas, and crushed Kasturi methi. Switch off the heat.
Serve Malai Kofta with rice or parathas.
Best to serve with
- Roti. The Indian flatbread is the ultimate combo with this Malai kofta curry.
- Paratha. The stuffed Indian flatbread like avocado Paratha, cauliflower Paratha.
- Rice. Simple, plain white rice is one of the popular side dishes served here in United States restaurants.
Storing ideas
Refrigerate. Transfer the excess Malai kofta curry to an air-sealed container. Refrigerate it to use within 5 days.
Freeze. You may also freeze in airtight containers or freezer-safe bags. This means you can prolong the storing period to 2 months. To thaw, leave them in the refrigerator overnight or for 8 hours.
Reheat. Transfer to a heavy-bottomed pan, add 1 cup of water, and combine with the gravy. And reheat until it turns hot. We are adding while reheating to compensate for the water that evaporates in the reheating process.
You may also gently reheat it in the microwave.
Why do koftas break?
The koftas are made with paneer. Paneer alone cannot be deep-fried as balls, and it needs a binding agent to hold its shape. Koftas break if the binding agent is not enough for deep frying.
When the koftas are breaking when deep frying, add in mashed potato.
Other curry recipes you may like,
Printable recipe card
Malai Kofta Curry
Ingredients
For the kofta
- ½ cup paneer /cottage cheese-grated
- ½ cup mashed potato
- 4 tablespoon cilantro chopped
- ¼ teaspoon salt or as required
- 3 teaspoon rice flour
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup vegetable oil for frying
For grinding
- 6 tablespoon onion chopped
- 6 tablespoon tomato chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
For the curry
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon shahi jeera /cumin seeds
- 2 cups water
- ½ teaspoon salt or as required
- ¼ cup fresh cream
- 1 teaspoon Kasurimethi / dried fenugreek leaves
Instructions
For the kofta
- In a mixing bowl, add paneer, potato, salt, chopped cilantro and blend them.
- And make small lime size balls of 1.5 inch in diameter. And set aside.
- In another mixing bowl, add rice flour, and water. Combine and make a thick paste. And set aside.
- Over medium heat, place a frying pan and add vegetable oil.
- Once the oil becomes medium hot, dip each paneer ball in the flour batter and drop it in the oil. Do not crowd the pan.
- Stir them occasionally and fry them for 3 minutes or until it becomes golden brown in color.
- Repeat the frying process for the remaining paneer balls as well. And set them aside.
For grinding
- Over medium heat, place another pan, and vegetable oil and chopped onion.
- Saute until onion becomes soft, and add tomato, ginger, and garlic.
- Saute until tomato becomes soft. Now add red chili powder and coriander powder.
- Stir for a minute. Allow it to cool.
- In the blender jar, add this mixture and pulse until it turns into a smooth consistency mixture. And set aside.
For the curry
- Over medium heat, in the same pan add vegetabble oil, shahi jeera and allow it to sizzle for 30 seconds.
- Stir in the ground spice mixture and cook them for 15 minutes in low-medium heat or until the oil separates on the sides.
- Add two cups of water and salt. Cook until it becomes thicky flowy consistency.
- Bring it to low heat, then add fresh cream, kofta, and crushed Kasturi methi.
- Stir it for a minute, until all the ingredients blends well with each other.
- Transfer to a serving bowl. And serve hot with rice or parathas.
Meena Selvakumaran
rich and creamy dish perfect for occassion,nice step by step clicks will be very useful.
Srimathi Mani
My family's fav side dish. Looks delicious.
Neela Manogar
Lovely koftas.
Saranya Balaji
looking very rich and creamy...
Preety
it does look like came straight from the restaurant..
Sri Love
I never had Malai Kofta in any Indian restaurant here before. Your gravy is killing me dear! Mouthwatering 🙂
Ali
This curry looks incredible! I have some extra naan leftover from butter chicken, going to try this recipe with it!
Biana
The kofta in gravy looks delicious! What a great idea for fall suppers.
Liz
This recipe was so good!! The sauce had a really good flavor and it was easy to make. Will make again!
sophie
Just tried your Malai Kofta Curry recipe and it's a total flavor explosion. Those creamy koftas in that rich curry – absolutely amazing.
dina and bruce miller
Wow, so flavorful and colorful. A winning dish at our home! Thank you!