Easy Malai Kofta, Indian Restaurant Style
Malai Kofta is one of the most popular vegetarian dishes at an Indian restaurant. If you’ve never heard of it, it’s basically fried potato dumplings in a creamy, mild tomato & onion based curry. Delicious!
Note: The classic recipe does include boiled cashews (for flavor and extra creaminess), but I’ve left them out here due to my husband’s aversion. So bonus feature for Kofta-lovers with nut allergies.
What you’ll need for the koftas (potato balls):
- 5 medium potatoes
- 1/4 cup of paneer (I used dried out ricotta cheese — details later)
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Vegetable oil for deep frying
What you’ll need for the malai (cream curry):
- 2 medium onions
- 1 small jalapeno
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2" fresh ginger root
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
- 1 tbsp fresh cilantro
- 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/4 cup half n half or heavy cream
Ok, I know what you’re thinking. The title implied this recipe would be easy, and here I have a laundry list of ingredients, including a few specialty spices only found in an Indian kitchen. If you can’t get your hands on bay leaves, cilantro, or ground coriander, leave it out (not that I recommend that), but by all means, find yourself some dried fenugreek leaves. This truly is the key to that Indian restaurant flavor.
First, let’s start with the koftas. Boil the potatoes until soft, and crumble 1/4 cup of paneer in a mixing bowl. If you’re like me and don’t have paneer in the fridge, create a similar product (yet not the same) with ricotta cheese. I spread a layer of ricotta on a plate, and microwaved at 30 second intervals for about 5 minutes, or until it’s dried out and curdy.
In a mixing bowl, combine mashed potatoes, ricotta cheese, corn starch, garam masala, and salt.
Give it a taste, and season it to the saltier side. Once these kofta are in the curry, they’ll need to have a backbone of their own.
Roll balls, about an inch in size and refrigerate for deep frying later.
Time to make the sauce! Heat up your saucepan with some vegetable oil, bay leaves, and a sprinkle of cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick) for a couple minutes. Add in diced onions, jalapeno, garlic, and ginger and season with ground coriander, ground cumin, and salt. Cook until onions are translucent. Remove from heat, and add crushed tomatoes. Take out the bay leaves & cinnamon stick, and puree in the blender.
Your curry should now be silky smooth with a deep orange color. Put it on a simmer back in the pan, and add a good pad of butter. And now for the final spices (garam masala, fenugreek leaves, and fresh cilantro). Why add these spices last? Well, they’re delicate, and work much better as a finisher. Pour in a little heavy cream (or half n half) at a time to get to the creaminess you want. You can add a splash of water too if it’s still too thick.
Deep fry your koftas in some vegetable oil (about 3–4 minutes, until golden-brown) and drain on paper towels. Serve 4–5 on a plate, smothered in that delicious, smooth malai. Couple it with some homemade parathas (recipe on that to follow some day), or treat yourself to some store-bought naan.
