Malai Kofta Curry

The secret of  Maa's cooking!! It's not just about recipe...something extra ordinary!! She never use much ingredients neither something beyond imagination, she uses the ingredient whatever is available in local market. Still she manage to create some magic while preparing food..In each bite you will find "swad" the Taste and the aroma, that you can sense before entering your home. And the moment she opens the door, you feel like jumping on dining table.  For some dishes, I follow her recipe blindly and "Chhena Kofta" (Cottage cheese ball curry) is one of those. And to my surprise my husband could not stop from finishing all those tiny wonder balls within minutes.

In odisha, its popular as Chhena bara tarakari, Chanar dalna in bengali and Kofta curry in all over india.

Sharing here the magical recipe with you all
Try it and spread that magic on your dining table :)


INGREDIENTS:

For the kofta:

    Full Cream Milk 1ltr
    Medium size potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed 1
    Red chili powder  ¼ tsp 
    Rava 1 tbsp
    Salt ¼ tsp
    Almond flour ¾ tbsp or ½ tbsp amul powder
    Oil for shallow or deep frying the koftas

For the gravy/curry:

    Chopped onion 2 tbsp
    Onion paste  ½ cup 
    Tomato puree ½ cup 
    Red chili powder ¾ tsp 
    Ginger garlic paste 1 tbsp
    Garam masala ¼ tsp 
    Cashew paste 1 tbsp
    Water 2 cups 
    Kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves 1 tsp 
    Salt as required
    Sugar as required (optional)
    Oil 2tbsp

Spices for dry grind:
   
    1 bay leaf
    1 inch cinnamon
    1 or 2 Cardamom
    A pinch of mace/jayitri
    2-3 cloves/laung

  
METHOD:

1. Dry roast the spices and grind them to a powder in a grinder. Store it in an air-tight container.
2. Boil milk in a pan and during the process of boiling, add lime juice/ curd to it. 
3. Stir with spoon gently for a minute or so to curdle the milk. 
4. Turn off the heat. It will make chana/cottage cheese.
5. Now pour this chana/cottage cheese to a muslin cloth and squeeze out all the water. And put some weight on it to squeeze out water completely. 
6. Take chhana in a bowl and add mashed potato, rava, red chili powder, almond powder.
7. Knead the mixture with 1/4 teaspoon salt to a smooth lump-free dough.
8. Make small balls from the dough and flatten them with hands to give it desired shapes. The texture of the koftas should be firm.
9. Fry the koftas in medium hot oil till golden. Keep aside.
10. Remove extra oil from the same pan and keep about 2 tbsp oil.
11. First add the chopped onion, fry it till it browns.
12. Add onion paste and brown it.
13. Now add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for some seconds till the raw aroma of the paste goes away.
14. Add the tomato puree and saute for 2-3 minutes.
15. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala powder and cashew paste.
16. Stir and saute till the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala paste. 
17. Add water and stir.simmer till the gravy begins to thicken. takes approx 11-12 minutes on a low flame.
18. Towards the end add crushed kasuri methi leaves and salt. 
19. (Optional) you can also add sugar if you want a light sweet taste in the curry. simmer for 1-2 minutes more.
20. Add the koftas in the curry if serving immediately and sprinkle the roasted spice powder.

Garnish the malai kofta with some coriander leaves. Serve malai kofta hot with rotis, naan, steamed basmati rice or jeera rice.

Note : You can garnish the malai kofta with some cream or grated paneer