Malai Kofta

Ingredients

For the koftas

2 mashed potatoes

1 cup grated paneer

chopped cilantro

a few golden raisins 

2 teaspoons cornflour/corn starch

salt to taste

oil for frying

For the dry masala

1 star anise

4 cloves

2 green cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cumin

For gravy

1 medium size onion - roughly chopped

2 medium size tomatoes - roughly chopped

5 cloves of garlic - roughly chopped

1/2 cup cashews - coarsely ground

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons oil

salt to taste

2 teaspoon chilli powder (you can use more if you wish to make it spicy)

Method

First grind the dry masala - for this dry roast all the dry masala ingredients in a karahi and then grind it to a fin powder. Keep it aside.

To make the koftas - in a deep dish, mash the potatoes, to it add the grated paneer, the chopped cilantro, salt to taste,the golden raisins and the cornflour. Mix all well together. it will form a dough. make small balls out of this mixture - the size of a golf ball. You can deep fry them or shallow fry the koftas till they turn golden brown. Drain them on a paper towel and keep aside.

For the gravy - in a karahi, add 2 tablespoons of oil. When it gets hot, add the onions and the garlic and fry till golden brown. then add the tomatoes and saute till the oil leaves the sides of the pan. To this mixture, add salt, cashews, chilli powder and the dry masala powder and mix well. Let this mixture cool. Then grind it to a fine paste, adding water only if required. This paste has to be thick like gravy.

In the same karahi - add the thick gravy and when it starts to boil, add the heavy cream and stir continuously. When the whole gravy is mixed well and has boiled - add the koftas to it. Cover and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Koftas are ready - can be served with rotis, parathas or jeera rice.