Malai Kofta

A royal,delicious and a very famous menu in every restaurant. These succulent juicy kofta immersed in rich creamy gravy is sure to leave your mouth watering. Malai means cream, in other words richness or royal. This combines everything that is rich like cashews, fresh cream and paneer as main ingredients.You can make this either as a white gravy completely by ignoring tomatoes as well.However, I have used tomatoes as I had some fresh tomatoes in stock with me. Either way, this will taste awesome. This is a mildly sweet gravy very similar to paneer butter masala.This goes very well with Butter Naan or any other Indian Breads. Learn to make this simple easy recipe at home without much fuss.

Ingredients

Base Onion Tomato Gravy

1. Onions - 3(Big)
2. Banglore Tomatoes - 2 (Big)
3. Cashew Nuts - 12-15
4. Poppy seeds/Khus Khus - 2 tbsp
5. Green Chili - 2 small or 1 big
6. Water - 2 cups

Kofta

1. Paneer - 200 gms (Grated)
2. Raisins - 2 tbsp
3. Cashews - 2 tbsp (chopped)
4. Potato - 3 big(boiled, peeled and smashed)
5. Needed Salt
6. Corn flour - 2 tbsp (for binding)
7. Maida/All purpose flour - Dusting
8. Oil for deep frying

Other Ingredients

1. Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Bay leaf - 1
3. Green Cardamon - 2
4. Cloves - 2
5. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
6. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
9. Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
10. Needed salt
11. Sugar - 3 tsp
12. Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp
13. Kasuri Methi (crushed) - 1 tsp

Method

Gravy Preparation

1. Boil all ingredients under "Gravy" for about 5 mins. The skin of tomatoes come off. Once the contents are cooled, blanch the tomatoes. ( see more on blanching tomatoes).

                              

2. Grind the contents to a smooth paste.

3. Heat butter in a pan, add bay leaf, cloves and cardamom and saute well.

4. Add ginger garlic paste and saute well for the raw flavor to go off.

5. Add the ground gravy mixture to the pan and saute well.

                             

6. Add all the powders mentioned in other ingredients and needed salt to saute well.

7. Cover the lid and allow it to simmer for 10 mins.

8. After 10 mins, the gravy would have cooked well and the raw taste would have gone completely.

9. Mix well and add needed water (if gravy has become too thick).

10. Add sugar and fresh cream and give it a good stir.

11. Add some crushed kasuri Methi and switch off the flame.

Kofta preparation

1. Mix mashed aloo,grated paneer and corn flour together. Combine well so that the contents mix homogeneously.

                              

2. Add green chili, cashew bites and raisins and combine well as shown in the pic.

3. Form cylindrical shape koftas with hand and dust them evenly in maida flour. The koftas should be uniformly coated well with flour.

                                 

4. Deep fry them in hot oil till the koftas turn golden brown. ensure the flame is medium so that the koftas do not turn black immediately.

5. Keep the koftas aside.   

                       

Assembling

1. On a plate, gently pour a ladle of the creamy gravy. Place the koftas above it.

2. Garnish with beaten fresh cream and serve them hot with Butter Naan or any other Indian Breads.

Notes,Tips & Add-On's

1. Presence of cashew makes the gravy thick. You can adjust water accordingly to make it  a creamy consistency.Make sure you don't add much.
2. Dusting the koftas helps in uniform covering of koftas. While frying, it gives uniform coloring.

Buttered Vegetables in Fresh Cream Dressing

Buttered Vegetables are classic salad recipes which you can find in any buffet spread. The first time when I tried this was at Taj Fishermen Cove.I simply loved it. The veggies were fresh, crunchy and delicately cooked in butter. Salads are never boring if you find your own way of tossing them in your favorite dressing. Here, I have used fresh cream dressing to toss the vegetables in addition to butter and this just tasted yummy. Fresh Cream and butter are source of good fat. Fat is never an unhealthy option. Good fat taken in the right amount helps in absorption of proteins,amino acids and also reduces risk of stroke.

This is highly low in carbohydrates and high in good fat making it ideal for Ketogenic Diet.

Serves:2

Ingredients

1. Unsalted Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Mixed Italian Herb Seasoning - 2 tsp
3. Pepper - 1.5 tsp
4. Fresh Cream - 2 tbsp
5. Water - 1/4 cup
6. Sugar - 1/2 tsp
7. Needed Salt

Veggies Used

• Red Bell Pepper - 1/3 cup(cubed)
• Yellow Bell Pepper - 1/3 cup (cubed)
• French Beans - 4 (cut in 1 inch length)
• Baby corn - 4 (cut lengthwise)
• cauliflower - 6 florets
• Onion - 1 (sliced thinly)

Vegetables sauteed in butter

Method

1. Rinse all the vegetables nicely. Soak cauliflower in hot water with a tsp of rock salt for 15 mins. If there are any worms inside the cauliflower, it will come out in this process. After 15 mins, rinse and strain the cauliflower once again.

2. Heat butter in a non stick pan, add all the veggies and saute well on a medium-low flame.Add needed salt,sugar and saute well until onions turn transparent.

3. Add water to the above pan and cover the lid. Allow the vegetables to be steamed on low flame. Ensure the vegetables are not overcooked and they are just cooked 90 percent.

4. After the veggies have cooked, add the fresh cream, mixed herb seasoning and pepper. Give a gentle mix. 

5. Serve the salad warm with sprinkled pepper/ seasoning of your choice.