This fancy named curry is quite commonly served in Indian Restaurants. Being vegetarian, we have only few options in Entree so we end up ordering same dish quite often. I have always liked this dish but never thought of making it myself.
During my recent trip to India, I watched Master Chef where Sanjeev Kapoor prepared this dish while all the contestants followed him at the same time. He made it look so simple yet delicious. Then other day I was thinking of using spinach in a way I had never used before. I specifically searched Sanjeev Kapoor's website for this recipe and adapted it to my taste. Basically, they are paneer stuffed spinach kofta dipped in tomato gravy. Instead I made conventional onion-tomato gravy with a few variations. As none of us is a big fan of tomato, we both found our version better than restaurant.
Preparing Kofta is bit time consuming, but I made them in advance which saved me lot of time and energy. You just need to warm them up before dipping into gravy. With Roti/Rice/Paratha/Naan, they are simply mouth-watering.
Serves 4
Preparation Time: 45 Minute
Cooking Time: 45 Minute
Ingredients
For Kofta:
3-4 big handfuls of spinach
1/2 cup paneer
1/4 tsp cardamom
2 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp green chili, finely chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
4 tbsp gram flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp corn flour
Salt
Oil for deep frying
For Gravy:
2 large onions, sliced
3 large tomatos, diced
3 tsp oil
1 tsp Punjabi Curry Masala
1/2 garlic, minced
1 tbsp kasoori methi
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup heavy cream **
Salt
Coriander leaves for garnishing
** can be replaced with yogurt
Procedure
For Kofta:
1. Trim spinach leaves and add them to boiling water for 2-3 minute
2. Drain and refresh with cold water, squeeze to remove excess water
3. Roughly chop the leaves and keep them aside till they cool down completely
4. Add salt and cardamom to paneer, divide it into 12 balls
5. Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, chili and garlic
6. Add gram flour and stir till it become light brown
7. Add salt, turmeric powder and spinach leaves
8. Cook this mixture uncovered till it becomes completely dry. Set aside to cool
9. Now take spinach mixture, flatten it on your palm, stuff paneer ball and roll it
10. Dissolve corn flour in water to make very thin batter (Like egg yolk)
11. Dip Kofta into corn flour and deep fry them until golden brown
For Gravy:
1. Saute sliced onions and diced tomatoes in 2tsp oil till onions are translucent and tomatoes become soft and juicy.
2. Once cool down, grind them into a fine puree
3. Heat remaining 1 tsp oil, add curry masala, garlic, cardamom, nutmeg and kasoori methi. Cook for 2-3 minute
4. Add onion-tomato puree, salt, turmeric powder, chili powder, honey and tomato paste
5. Add butter and heavy cream. Turn off the heat
6. Pour gravy into bowl, halve the Kofta and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve immediately
