Malai Kofta Recipe (Paneer Kofta Curry)

Malai Kofta, the ultimate North Indian Comfort food! Crispy Paneer dumplings known as Kofta, served with a rich, creamy, luxurious & super delicious gravy. This Malai kofta curry brings Gourmet Indian flavors to your dinner table & can make your special meal times much exciting. Serve this classic vegetarian Indian dish with Butter Naan, Roti, Paratha, Plain steamed basmati or flavored rice like Cumin Rice, Ghee rice or Turmeric rice.

For a special or festive meal, extend your menu to some halwa and raita.

What is Malai Kofta?

Malai Kofta is a curried vegetarian dish consisting of crisp fried potato paneer koftas (fried balls) served with a creamy, smooth and rich sauce/ curry. The word Malai means cream in Hindi and Kofta are fried balls. So Malai kofta literally translates to koftas dunked in a creamy sauce.

Originally, Kofta belongs to a family of meatballs from the Central Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan Cuisines. Koftas come in different sizes & shapes – balls, patties and even cylindrical.

In India, the vegetarian version known as Malai kofta is hugely popular in the restaurants. There are also many other vegetarian versions like lauki kofta (bottle gourd kofta), mixed vegetable kofta and raw banana koftas.

There are 2 kinds of Malai kofta served in Indian restaurants. The first being the Mughlai style that’s white in color and the other is the koftas in Orange gravy. The key difference between the 2 is the use of tomatoes and spices like red chilli powder and turmeric. In this post I share the later one.

About This Recipe

This malai kofta is a delight for all your senses! It smells great, looks fantastic and tastes the best. The paneer koftas are crisp on the outside with a soft and mouth-melting light texture inside. The gravy is super delicious, brimming with flavor and absolutely finger-licking good.

The paneer kofta are made with mix of mashed/grated boiled potatoes, crumbled paneer, corn starch, spices and herbs. This mixture is shaped to small balls and deep fried. For a healthier option you may bake or air fry them.

Every restaurant has a different formula to make their kofta gravy. But in general a paste made with boiled onions, cashews and sometimes poppy seeds is used to make the white gravy.

My recipe is much simpler and makes use of tomatoes too as it makes a super perfect and delicious gravy similar to the paneer butter masala.

Onions and cashews impart natural sweetness while tomatoes lend a tang and spices infuse the best aromas to the gravy.

Many people feel making malai kofta at home is a very difficult task. But with proper planning and preparing ahead it is easy to make. It involves several preparation steps so it takes some time but is easy and not difficult.

For convenience, you may split the recipe and make the gravy the previous day or ahead. The day you want to serve the malai kofta, just prepare the koftas and heat the gravy.

Please read the Ingredients & substitutes and Pro Tips sections below.

More Paneer recipes,
Paneer butter masala
Kadai paneer
Paneer lababdar
Paneer tikka masala
Palak paneer
Matar paneer

How to Make Malai Kofta (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. Heat a pan with 1 tablespoon oil. Then add

• 3 green cardamoms
• ½ inch cinnamon piece
• 3 cloves
• 1 cup cubed onions (2 medium). Saute all of them until the onions turn light golden.

2. Then add 1½ cups chopped tomatoes (about 3 medium) and 15 cashewnuts. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Then pour ½ cup water and cook covered until all of them turn soft.

4. Once done all the onions and tomatoes will be mushy. Cool completely & transfer to a blender.

5. Blend it super smooth. Filter or strain the puree to a bowl. Keep this aside.

Make Gravy

6. On a medium flame, heat 2 tablespoons oil or butter in a pan. Then add

• 1 bay leaf (optional)
• ½ inch cinnamon piece (optional)
• 2 green cardamoms. (optional)
  When they sizzle, add 1½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste and saute for 30 to 60 seconds. (until the raw smell goes away)

7. Turn down the flame to lowest and quickly stir in

• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1 to 1¼ teaspoon garam masala
• ¾ teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Then immediately pour the tomato onion puree. Be careful and do not burn the spices. You can also do the other way like I did poured the puree first and then added the spice powders.

8. Mix everything well and saute for 3 to 4 mins. You don’t need to saute until the mixture leaves the pan. The raw smell of onions and tomatoes goes away since they are boiled first. Then used here.

9. Pour ¾ cup water and mix well. If the gravy looks too thick then pour another ¼ cup.

10. Cover and cook for about 10 to 14 minutes or until the gravy turns thick.

11. When the gravy is ready, it will be thicker and you will see little traces of oil on top.

12. Take 1 teaspoon kasuri methi to your palm and crush it in between both your palms. Add this and give a good mix. Taste test the gravy and add more salt if needed.

13. Lower the flame. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons of cream and mix well. You can use whipping cream, heavy cream or cooking cream here. Malai gravy is ready. Set this aside to cool.

Make Kofta

14. Boil 4 medium (or 2 large potatoes) until just done but not mushy & soggy. I usually boil them in a steamer or pressure cooker for 2 whistles with little water. Cool them completely, peel the skin. Crumble or grate them. Ensure you don’t use mushy potatoes here.

15. To a mixing bowl add

• 1 heaped cup crumbled potatoes (or grated)
• 1 heaped cup crumbled paneer (or grated)
• 2½ tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour, do not add more)
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala
• 1 to 2 green chili (chopped, skip for kids)
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (chopped)
• ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)

16. Add 1 tablespoon chopped cashews and 1 tablespoon raisins. Taste test and add more salt if needed.

17. Mix the ingredients and divide the mixture to 8 parts. Make them to smooth balls. The mixture should not be sticky here.

Fry Kofta

18. Heat oil in a deep fry pan. Check if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small portion of the mixture in hot oil. The ball has to rise without browning a lot. If the oil is not hot enough, the balls will sink in the oil, may disperse and stick up to the kadai.

19. Once the oil is hot, regulate the flame to medium heat. Slide in 1 ball to check the temperature and binding. If all goes well then slide the rest of the kofta balls and fry till golden and crisp. Do not fry them in extremely hot oil.

20. Remove the paneer koftas to a steel colander. Cool them.

Assemble Malai Kofta

1. Transfer the cooled malai gravy to a deep dish.
2. Just before serving, place the koftas in the gravy otherwise they will not remain crispy. Ensure the koftas and the gravy both are cool and not hot. Otherwise the koftas will become soft in no time.
3. Garnish with 1 tablespoon cream and coriander leaves. Serve with butter naan, roti or jeera rice.

Pro Tips

My kids’ love malai kofta. So I make it a lot of times for special occasions. Here are some helpful tips from my experience

Boiling potatoes: Do not overcook the potatoes to the extent they turn soggy. Overcooked potatoes often make very soft koftas. For the koftas to be crisp, firm and yet soft inside, cook potatoes just until done.

Paneer: For this recipe you can use store bought or homemade paneer. Both work well here.

Cornflour: Also known as cornstarch is one of the key ingredient used to bind the kofta mixture well. It also gives a firm texture. Without corn flour, the koftas will turn out very soft inside and get mushy very quickly after they are added to the gravy. So do not skip this.

Stuffing: The paneer kofta I have shown in this post is made without stuffing. I have just added some raisins & cashews to the mixture. You can also use the same to stuff inside the koftas. Basically I find no difference in the taste.

Cashews add a creamy texture to the malai gravy without the need of too much cream in the dish. Any changes to the given quantities may alter the taste of the malai kofta curry.

Cream: I have made this recipe several times with whipping cream, heavy cream & cooking cream. You may use any of them.

Smooth gravy: If you do not have a powerful blender, filter (strain) the pureed onion tomatoes first and then add it to the pot for making gravy.

Substitutes

• Cornstarch can be substituted with arrow root powder or roasted gram flour/ besan.
• Cashews can be substituted with blanched and soaked almonds or with poppy seeds.
• Paneer can be substituted with extra firm tofu.
• Cream can be substituted with cashew cream.
• You can substitute potatoes with raw banana, yam or sweet potato. But note the koftas will not taste the same.

Servings suggestions

Most times I go the easiest way and serve malai kofta with plain basmati rice cooked with some whole spices & a tbsp of ghee. However it can also be served with Jeera rice, ghee rice, pulao or plain Paratha or naan.

Since malai kofta is on the heavier side, plain basmati rice also goes very well.

If you plan for a simple Indian meal then malai kofta, basmati rice, carrot halwa & lassi go well together.

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