'Malai Kofta' vegetarian recipe is a very rich, indulgent and delicious dish. .'Malai' translates to cream and 'Kofta' translates to dumplings. Mashed potatoes, cheese, and sometimes other vegetables are used to make the koftas. The 'koftas' are dunked in a rich tomato sauce infused with spices, cream, and cashew paste.
Why you will love this dish?
- This is a very popular dish for special occasions.
- Indulging it occasionally is a welcome treat to the taste buds. You can deep-fry, shallow-fry the koftas in an appe-pan.
- It is a time-consuming process to make, but the effort is worth it, especially for a special occasion!
- This delicious dish is a joy to serve and impress your guests.
This Malai kofta vegetarian recipe originates from Northern India from the Mughalai cuisine, a legacy left behind by the Mughals who ruled India. Interestingly, it also has a Turkish and Persian influence.
How to make Malai kofta gravy?
You can make the dumplings or Kofta in many different ways. You can even stuff it with dry fruits or cheese in the center. In this recipe, I mash all the ingredients together and make small round balls out of it. You can also roll it into oval shapes or flatten it if you like.
You can make the 'Koftas' in advance and freeze them. If you have remaining stuffing from the koftas that were not fried, they can be used in other recipes like the stuffing to make aloo parathas as well. You may also love the beetroot cutlets made with beets and potatoes which uses similar process of making the patties like the koftas minus the beets and with a different outer covering.
Make the Koftas
Add mashed potatoes, crumbled paneer, and the spices of red chili powder, garam masala (how to make garam masala at home), and amchur powder, along with corn flour and chopped coriander leaves, and mix well. Make small round or oval balls and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the veggie balls or you could air-fry or cook in an appe-pan with less oil.
Make the Gravy
Saute onions, tomato, ginger garlic paste with spices and grind to paste. Add ground paste of cashew nut with milk and mix into the gravy. Make it rich with cream and add dried fenugreek leaves and chopped coriander for an authentic taste. Add the Koftas to the gravy just before serving.
If you love this kofta curry, you may also enjoy Lauki kofta. Some other similar gravies made with a tomato and onion base are Paneer Tikka Masala and Chicken Tikka Masala. There is also my favorite and easy palak paneer recipe to make the hearty and delicious palak paneer. The rich and creamy shahi paneer in white gravy is also loved by one and all.
Malai Kofta - Veggie dumplings in creamy tomato sauce
Ingredients
For Kofta
- 2 potatoes boiled and mashed
- 1 cup paneer crumbled
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp garam masala powder
- ½ tsp chaat masala or amchur powder optional
- 2 tsp corn flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ cup coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2 cups oil to deep fry
For gravy
- 1 onion extra large chopped
- 4 to 5 tomatoes medium sized choped
- 10 -12 cashews soaked in ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp jeera
- 1 tsp red chilli powder Kashmiri chilli
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- ½ tsp amchur (dried mango) powder or chaat masala
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 cloves
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ cup coriander leaves chopped
- 2 tbsp whipping cream
- 2 tbsp fenugreek leaves dried kasuri methi (fenu greek leaves)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
To make koftas.
- Boil and mash the potatoes.
- Add crumbled paneer to the potatoes and mix well.
- Add the spices red chilli powder, garam masala, amchur powder (optional), along with corn flour and chopped coriander leaves and mix well .
- Form small round balls and keep aside or in a refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
- Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the veggie balls .Alternatively you could cook it in an appe-pan with very little oil.
To make the gravy
- Take a deep bottomed vessel and add the butter and oil to it.
- Add the spices cumin seeds, bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom to it.
- Next add chopped onions and sautee well.
- Add ginger garlic paste and sautee till the raw smell is gone.
- Add the chopped tomatoes and cook it well for about 15 to 20 minutes till it leaves oil from the sides.
- Fish out the whole spices and grind the onion and tomato to a fine paste when cooled.
- Grind the cashews and milk to a fine paste and keep aside.
- In the same pan , add a little oil and add the red chilli powder , coriander powder garam masala , amchur powder and the onion tomato paste and mix well.
- Add the sugar and salt to taste.
- Add the cashew paste and mix well .
- Add the whipping cream and the dried and powdered fenugreek leaves .
- Turn off flame and transfer to serving bowl
- Add the dumplings to the gravy just before serving .
- Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and whipped cream .
- Enjoy it with bread or rice !
Nutrition
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Looks delicious! Beautiful pictures!😍😋
Thank you so much !
These look wonderful, Nisha! And I absolutely adore your little bowls! 😍😍😍
Thank you so much Jennifer! The bowls are my favorites 🙂
I actually did it once! I liked it a lot 💙💙✌️😄
That’s absolutely wonderful... it is usually a hit with most folks .Thank you so much for stopping by !
Yes but I remember it takes time...I mean longer than fish & chips 🙂
Very true you need a lot of patience to make this ☺️
Absolutely Delicious ! In Love with the presentation Nisha 😍
Thank you so much Smitha , so glad you love it , much appreciated!
Awesome! Malai kofta looks super delicious, and I always admire your photography.
Thank you so much dear appreciate it !
Wow.. This is awesome!👏👏
Thank you so much !
These look & sound soooo tempting! I must admit (ashamedly) that I've never tried dumplings. Ever. So they're basically potato-based, then with spices and other flavourings? I really should try them as I feel like I'm missing out! 🙂
They are delicious Caz, the fried cheese and potato balls in the rich gravy can never go wrong in my humble opinion, although they are a little high on the calories . I’m sure you will definitely love it ! Thank you so much .
That looks and sounds amazing!!!!!
Thank you so much Diane , it turned out really good.
Absolutely NOMNOM...looks great and super rich...loved it Nisha !
Thank you Jyo , yes indeed very rich and yum !
Looks delicious Nisha 😉
Thank you Lorelle !