Malai Kofta (Indian Veggie Balls)

Malai kofta is a hugely popular dish on Indian restaurant menus all over the world. It is a special occasion food probably because making it is a labor of love and takes time and effort.

Malai (meaning creamy in Hindi) kofta is the perfect vegetarian alternative to meatballs. It goes very well with naan (tandoor-baked flatbread) or Jeera rice.

Method to prepare Malai Kofta

Make the Kofta

1. Gather the ingredients.Wash, peel, and dice the potatoes. Boil them in a pot of water until fork tender.Drain and set aside.

2. Next, boil the veggies until crisp-tender. Drain and set aside.In a large bowl, mash the boiled potatoes, mixed vegetables, paneer, and cream together. Add the kofta spices - cumin, coriander, and red chili powder - to this mash and mix well. The resulting dough should be firm. If not add some more boiled potato. Season with salt.

3. In a small bowl, combine the chopped nuts and raisins.Make this dough into balls and put a 1/2 teaspoon of the nut and raisin mix in the center of each ball. Roll into perfect rounds.In a large pot, heat the oil kept aside to fry the koftas, on a medium flame.

4. Deep fry these rounds till pale golden in color. Drain on paper towels and keep aside.

Make the Paste

1. Gather the ingredients.Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep pan and fry the onions till light brown. In a small food processor, place the fried onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, and red chili powder, and grind into a paste. Put this paste back into the pan and fry till the oil begins to separate from the masala.

2. Add the poppy seeds powder and nut paste and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of warm water (the sauce for this dish is meant to be thick so do not add too much water) to this masala to form a gravy. Mix well. Season with salt. Bring the gravy to a boil and then reduce the fire to a simmer. Gently add the koftas to this gravy and cook uncovered for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Turn off the fire and sprinkle the garam masala all over the top of the dish. Cover immediately and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Serve with hot naans (tandoor-baked leavened Indian flatbread) or jeera rice.