Malai Kofta

There appears to be a lot of work with this recipe and there is; but it was definitely worth the effort. It was spectacular.


Ingredients

 for the kofta
100 grams paneer 
130g potatoes
250g cauliflower
175g carrots, peeled

175g fine green beans
30g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp strong white flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp salt

for the filling

30g cashew nuts
a pinch of saffron strands
55g paneer
30g mature cheddar, grated

2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp fine sea salt

for the gravy
30g garlic (8-9 cloves)

175ml veg oil

20g fresh root ginger 

800g chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

6 green cardamom pods

2 black cardamom pods

2 cinnamon sticks

2 tsp fine sea salt

30g butter

1 tsp garam masala

1 1/2 deggi mirch chilli powder

20g sugar

1 tbsp runny honey

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves

1/2 tsp fresh dill

80ml double cream

Method

Begin by preparing the sauce. 

Grate the ginger and half the garlic into a paste. 

Blitz the chopped tomatoes into a fine pulp. 

Then in a saucepan heat the oil over a medium-heat and fry the other half the garlic until coloured. Remove the garlic but keep the infused oil in the pan.

Add to the oil the bay leaves, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks. Fry for a minute.

Turn the heat down then add the garlic/ginger paste. Cook until the paste begins to brown.

Then add the finely chopped tomatoes, salt and deggi mirch chilli powder. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about half an hour or until it has reduced by half. 

Add the butter and simmer for a further five minutes. Then add the garam masala, sugar, honey, cumin, crispy garlic, dried fenugreek and fresh dill. 

Continue to simmer slowly for another 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.  (It could be refrigerated at this point.)

For the koftas, cut the potato in half and boil in salted water until just tender. 

In the meantime, using a food processor, blitz the green beans, cauliflower and carrots to a "grated" texture. Or you could grate them, or super finely chop them by hand. Leave them to stand for 5 minutes then tip them into a clean tea towel, wrap well and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Transfer to a large bowl.

Drain the potato and leave until cool enough to handle, then grate them into the bowl. Grate the paneer into the bowl also. Add the flour, spices and salt, mix well. Now work the mixture with your hands to form a thick, malleable paste

For the filling, warm a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the cashews and toast until golden brown, then tip onto a plate and leave to cool. 

Turn off the heat and scatter the saffron in the still-warm pan; allow to toast in the residual heat.

Grate the paneer into a a bowl. Grate the ginger on top, using a microplane. Using your fingers, crumble the saffron over the top. Add all the remaining ingredients except for the toasted cashews, and mix nicely.

Using a pestle and mortar bash the cashews until they are broken into small pieces, not ground. Add to the filling mix, then use the back of your spoon to squish the mixture against the side of the bowl.

To assemble and cook, tip the flour onto a plate. Weigh the filling out into 8g portions, using your hands to squash each ball as you go. (It needs a little force, and doesn't need to be very neat).

Weigh out 35g of the kofta mix. 

Take a portion of the kofta mix and flatten it against your palm, making a disc. Make a well in the centre and use your hand to create a cup shape. Place a ball of the filling in the hollow. 

Carefully mould the kofta mixture around the filling to form a neat ball. Roll the ball in the flour to coat, then set aside while you assemble the remaining koftas.

Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or similar to 160C. Not too hot. 

Fry the koftas in the hot oil in batches until they are golden brown. 

Keep them warm in a 100C pre-heated oven.

When you're ready to serve, pour the tomato based sauce into a large frying pan over a medium- high heat. When it begins to simmer add the double cream and turn the heat down.  Do not let it come to a boil. 

Add the fried kofta dumplings, stir them carefully to ensure that they are coated, and simmer for 3 minutes.

Serve immediately, scattered with pomegranate seeds and coriander leaves.