Sweet malai kofta in white gravy is a vegetarian delight made of paneer and potato balls in a rich cashew sauce. Smooth, creamy, and oh so delicious!
Another paneer recipe that has a rich cashew gravy is shahi paneer. Do take a look.
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Mmmm...malai kofta! If you've been to an Indian restaurant lately, chances are you've sampled this paneer delicacy. If you're wondering why it is so popular, take a bite out of a kofta drenched in that heavenly sauce and you'll know. It's love at first bite:)
More popular paneer dishes: palak paneer, chilli paneer, and paneer butter masala.
Ingredients
Note: exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down.
For the kofta ingredients, the cooking oil is not in the picture. It is used to fry the kofta balls.
Instructions
Making paneer malai kofta a three-step process: make the cottage cheese and potato balls and fry them in some oil, make the gravy, and put it all together.
Make the kofta balls
- Using your hands, mix all the ingredients except the cooking oil, cashews, and raisins into a dough.
- Break off equal sized portions of the dough and shape into balls.
- Flatten the balls to make round discs.
- Place a few cashews and raisins in the middle of each disc and close to form a ball again.
- Lightly dredge the balls in some extra cornflour. This is optional. If you don't like the light dusting of cornflour still left on the balls after they have been fried, you can omit dredging them before. The koftas shouldn't break as there is cornflour inside them too.
- Fry the balls in hot oil until golden brown.
Make the white gravy
- In a saucepan, add the onions, ginger, cashews, and whole spices.
- Pour one cup water and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- When cool, blend to a fine paste in a blender. Note: you can remove the whole spices if you don't want very strong spice flavors. They have already released most of their flavor into the liquid so blending them with the rest of the ingredients is not necessary. Removing them before blending will also make for a whiter gravy.
- Heat the oil in a wok or pot and add the puree you prepared above. Fry or bhunao this puree for about 12-15 minutes on medium heat. You might want to add ¼ cup water (to prevent burning) and cover the wok with a lid (to prevent splattering).
- Add the sugar, cream and yogurt and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. The gravy for malai kofta is supposed to be thick, but if it is too thick, add a little water to loosen it.
Note: Bhunao is a special technique that is responsible for the deep, rich flavour of Indian curries and gravies. If you want a detailed explanation of the process, see this post -
Assemble the koftas and gravy
There are two ways you can do this -
- Pour the gravy in a wide and shallow dish and place the koftas in the gravy when ready to serve.
- Place the koftas in the dish first and then pour the gravy on top of them.
- Serve with warm naan or tandoori roti or rice.
As you might have guessed by now, paneer kofta curry is not really a weekday dish which can be whipped out in a snap! It does require some work upfront. So, I find myself making it when I’m expecting company or on a particularly leisurely weekend.
Useful tips and tricks
- Do NOT put the malai koftas in the gravy beforehand. If there is time between making the dish and serving it, keep the two separate. Assemble them only when ready to serve, or the koftas can break.
- Also if the gravy is very hot, wait for it to cool down a bit before adding the koftas.
- It's a good idea to do the grating and grinding in advance. Trying to do everything in one marathon session can be overwhelming even for people familiar with the recipe. Get the grunt work out of the way before you start cooking!
- Don't waste time grating the paneer by hand. Cut the block into medium sized pieces and grate in a food processor. Or put it in hot water for 10 minutes, drain the water, and crumble the paneer by hand.
- Make a large batch of koftas in one go. Since you can freeze them, you're just left with making the gravy when you want to have malai kofta for dinner.
How to make homemade paneer for malai kofta
Want to make your own cottage cheese for this recipe? Or, maybe, paneer is not easily available where you live? In either case, it really is very easy and economical to make paneer from scratch. Plus, the paneer you make yourself is so much softer and tastier!
Here's a post on how to make paneer in the instant pot. Do check it out!
Frequently asked questions
Think luscious paneer (Indian cottage cheese) and potato balls in a rich but mildly spiced tomato gravy and you start getting the picture. The paneer koftas are quite a treat on their own but when coated with a rich sauce of cashews, yogurt and cream, they become totally irresistible. (malai = cream, kofta = balls)
Depends on your definition of healthy! There's nothing unhealthy in the ingredients. There's paneer (Indian cottage cheese), potatoes, tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic, cashews and a few spices that go into making them. Nothing unnatural or processed there.
And the cream? It's not a lot. But if you don't like dairy cream, go ahead and sub with some coconut cream. The gravy will taste just as nice, I promise.
It's a personal preference, actually. I like to have it with Indian bread like naan, but it pairs well with rice too since there's a gravy. It tastes great both ways.
It is! Instead of paneer, go for semi-firm tofu, swap the cream for some coconut cream, and the yogurt for some non-dairy yogurt. Your vegan version of the dish is ready and it's just as delicious.
Yes, absolutely. Once your koftas are fried, cool them completely and lay them out on a platter lined with clingwrap. Place the koftas on the platter making sure they don't touch each other. If you have a lot of koftas, layer them on the same platter with every layer separated by clingwrap. Keep the platter in the freezer. Once the koftas are frozen, take them out and transfer to a ziploc bag. Return the bag to the freezer. Now, when you want to make this paneer kofta recipe, you just have to worry about making the gravy.
More paneer recipes
📖 Recipe
Malai Kofta in White Gravy
Equipment
- 1 medium sized bowl for mixing the kofta dough
- 1 wok or frying pan for frying the kofta balls
- 1 1 small saucepan for making the gravy
- Blender
- 1 medium sized wok or pot for simmering the gravy
Ingredients
For the koftas:
- 7 oz paneer Indian cottage cheese, grated
- 7 oz potatoes 2 small potatoes, cooked, peeled and mashed
- 1 green chilli chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 15 cashews broken
- 2 tbsp golden raisins
- cooking oil as needed for frying
For the gravy:
- 2 onions medium, sliced thickly
- 1" piece ginger chopped
- 15 cashews
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 star anise
- 3 green cardamom
- 4 cloves
- ½ tsp black peppercorns
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- ¼ cup cream
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 2 tsp white sugar
- ½ tsp salt adjust to taste
Instructions
Make the koftas
- Using your hands, mix all the ingredients except the cooking oil, cashews, and raisins into a dough.
- Break off equal sized portions of the dough and shape into balls.
- Flatten the balls to make round discs.
- Place a few cashews and raisins in the middle of each disc and close to form a ball again.
- Lightly dredge the balls in some extra cornflour (optional).
- Fry the balls in hot oil until golden brown.
Make the gravy
- In a saucepan, add the onions, ginger, cashews, and whole spices.
- Pour one cup water and bring to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the whole spices if you don't want very strong spice flavors.
- When cool, blend to a fine paste in a blender.
- Heat the oil in a wok or pot and add the puree you prepared above. Fry or bhunao this puree for about 12-15 minutes on medium heat. You might want to add ¼ cup water (to prevent burning) and cover the wok with a lid (to prevent splattering).
- Add the sugar, cream and yogurt and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. If the gravy is too thick, add a little water to loosen it. The white gravy is ready.
Assemble
- Pour the gravy in a wide and shallow dish and place the koftas in the gravy when ready to serve. Or, place the koftas in the dish first and then pour the gravy on top of them.
- Serve with warm naan or tandoori roti or rice.
Notes
- Do NOT put the malai koftas in the gravy beforehand. If there is time between making the dish and serving it, keep the two separate. Assemble them only when ready to serve, or the koftas can break.
- Also if the gravy is very hot, wait for it to cool down a bit before adding the koftas.
- To avoid overwhelm, it's a good idea to do the prep in advance.
Chris Collins says
These truly look so yummy! Definitely going to give the recipe a go, thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Saima says
Thanks. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Adrianne says
Interesting recipe! I have made paneer several times but didn't understand this at the Indian Restaurant until I have seend your photos!! Yum, gosh, I could have some right now. I can't wait to give these a go!! Cheers
Danielle says
I've had these at restaurants before, never thought I could make it myself! Your directions make these seem totally doable!
Saima says
Oh, yes! It is totally doable at home.
Natalie says
I love malai kofta! Looks so delicious and perfect on cold winter days. Comforting dish ♥
Caitlyn Erhardt says
Very cool recipe. I have never tried something like this and am excited to see what it tastes like! Delicious I am sure!
Saima says
Thanks Caitlyn. DO try it. I'm sure you won't be disappointed!
Renee Gardner says
I've never heard of this dish before, but I love paneer! I don't have a great Indian restaurant local, but I do have a market that makes paneer in house and I'm always looking for more ways to incorporate it.
Saima says
Malai kofta is one of those very popular paneer dishes that you have to try if you haven't!
Amy says
Oh yum!! My hubby has been wanting me to make something like this! These look great--I'll definitely be trying these soon.
Pam Greer says
I've never had kofta, but it sounds delicious! We try to eat meatless a couple of times a week so this is going on Sunday's menu!
Saima says
Yes, it's the perfect vegetarian meal for a weekend. You do need a little time on your hands to make this, so I almost always do this on a Saturday or Sunday.
Dominique | Perchance to Cook says
I am drooling over these photos... these dumplings look so incredibly good and the sauce looks so creamy! I love the use of cardamom here 🙂
Saima says
Thanks, Dominique!
Kiki Johnson says
Love me some vegetarian Indian food and everything with paneer cheese in it is a winner in my book! These kofta look INCREDIBLE and that gravy sounds mouthwatering!SAVED !!!
Chef Markus Mueller says
I've never had paneer, though I've heard it's delicious. I'll have to see if I can find some here and make this at home. It does look delicious. I also love the idea of deep frying them and eating them solo!
Saima says
If you haven't had paneer, you must definitely try this. I love having fried paneer koftas sans gravy too!
Michelle says
I definitely need to try this, it sounds delicious! We're veggies and are always looking for new dishes and this sounds like it's perfect for us. Saving this for later x
Tatiana says
My friends favorite dish! Needless to say that i would love to cook it for them now:)
Kathryn says
I don't know that I've ever had these but they look delicious - I'm definitely going to give them at try!
Anne Lawton says
I have never had this before, but is sounds delicious. After reading about it, I want to try it real soon!
Georgie says
This looks absolutely beautiful! I fell in with paneer when I went to India a few years ago! It’s so delicious and I love how you’ve made them into little balls!
Saima says
Yes, paneer is the kind of food that you can't help liking! Even if you've never had it before, the texture and taste will make you fall in love!
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life says
This looks so reminiscent of a type of dumpling my husband grew up with in Norway called komle. Of course, your sauce is completely different (they served their dumplings with a beef broth sauce) but it looks divine! I bet both my husband and I would love these.
Saima says
That is so interesting, Claire. Komle...what are the dumplings made of?
Globetrotter Gary says
Yummy, I love Indian food. I am from the UK and now lucky enough to be in India sampling some of the culinary delights.