Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Palak Paneer Kofta - Yum and Healthy too !!!

Hello everyone reading my blog,


OK, so, I had this palak (Spinach) lying in fridge for a while, so thought of utilizing it and making something different (not made before I mean) for Divya's blog event. So, I racked my brains and initially thought of making a pakoda out of it. I ended up deciding on Paneer-Palak Pakoda and then when I made those, I said, why not make a curry out of it. So, finally, I made a kofta curry out of.


Friends, here is my (kind of) invention. I am very very sure, you will find thousands of recipes on this, but I just kept adding things and made this one. I felt little bit less guilty about this kofta as I hadn't added any potatoes in it, so no extra carbs here.


Palak Paneer Kofta - पालक पनीर कोफ्ता (Spinach - Cottage Cheese Dumplings in Onion Tomato Gravy)




Ingredients
For Kofta
Paneer (Cottage Cheese) - 2 cups
Palak (Spinach) - 2 cups finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tsp shredded
Besam (Gram Flour) - 1 tbsp
Lal Mirch (Red Chilli) Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp
Amchur (Mango Powder) - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
For Gravy
Onion - 1.5 cups sliced or chopped (no need to finely chop as we will puree it later)
Tomato - 1 cup chopped
Hari Mirch (Green Chillies) - 3 roughly chopped
Ginger - 1 inch shredded
Garlic - 2 cloves
Kaju (Cashews) - 7-8 whole ones, soaked in warm water
Badam (Almonds) - 5-6 whole ones, soaked in warm water
Haldi (Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Dhaniya (Coriander) Powder - 1 tsp
Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tsp
Cilantro - for garnishing
Preparation
For Kofta

  • Mix all the ingredients of kofta (except besan) nicely
  • At the end add besan and mix well
  • Make into 12 small balls out of it and deep fry them
  • Drain on a paper towel

For Gravy

  • Take oil in a wide pan
  • Add onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic and fry till onions become translucent
  • Add tomatoes, kaju, badam and all the dry masalas (except garam masala) and fry for another 2-3 minutes
  • Add milk and cook for 1 minute
  • Let the mixture cool down and then puree it by adding little water (about 1/2 cup)
  • Take the pan used before (or another one as you prefer) and add 1 tsp oil again.
  • Now, add the pureed mixture and let it cook (close the lid as it will start bubbling immediately) for about 3-4 minutes
  • Add garam masala and cilantro and let it cook for another 1 min.
  • Add extra water based on how thick or runny you want your gravy to be.
  • Add koftas to the gravy about 5 - 10 minutes before serving so that they get the gravy flavor and don't become too soggy or break apart (as koftas are well cooked, no need to cook them with the gravy).

Serving
Serve it with roti/paratha/naan.


Beware of one thing though, while making koftas, keep them away from everyone at home. Seriously, I made 13 koftas but only 8 reached the gravy and rest 5 of those went in my husband, my son and my tummy. I guess, you can also make just the "Kofta" part and use them as a yum and healthy snack.


Hope you all like it. This recipe is going to Divya's and Siri's - Healing Foods Event - Spinach.




Till next post, take care, good night.

21 comments:

Ms.Chitchat said...

Yummy yummy koftas. I am sure with such delicious koftas at least some reached the gravy :):)

Priya Suresh said...

Tempting kofta curry...makes me drool..

Malar Gandhi said...

Very interesting dish, never heard efore' sounds wonderful...I like both palak and paneer, got to try this for sure.

Pari Vasisht said...

Hi Priya, I love the colour of ur gravy and the koftas have turned out so well.

Sushma Mallya said...

Looks very beautiful,love the combo and it sure must be yum

R said...

this looks absolutely delicious, palak makes it healthy too :))

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone for wonderful comments. @ Pari I was also specially very happy with the gravy color, without actually adding any artificial color.

Cooking Foodie said...

Love the color of the tomato gravy.. nice recipe... love paneer koftas

ruchikacooks said...

Looks so lovely, nice variation from the usual koftas..gorgeous color

Tia said...

this is SO impressive!

you have some really neat recipes on here that I want to try. I love indian food but never seem to get the spices quite right.

RV said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog Priya. I love Rajasthani food and am so glad to know you and your blog. Your recipes are fabulous. I especially loved this Paneer Kofta recipe, can't wait to try it in my home. Btw, I had one doubt do you add cashews and badam along with the other dry ingredients ?

Unknown said...

Radhika, thank you for your comments. I add all the grinding ingredients together and don't separate dry and wet ones. Hope that helps.

Smitha said...

The gravy looks so colorful priya !!Delicious mouth watering dish !!

Anonymous said...

I loved this dish except for the cooking in the oil. The balls kept sticking and falling apart! What did I do or not do that caused this? I'd really like to make it again as it is so tasty but oh my I about cried cooking it.

Unknown said...

Dear Anonymous, sorry about the kofta balls falling apart. You have to make sure that there is very less moisture in spinach and paneer both. If there is, please feel free to add little more besan or few breadcrumbs or even a bread. Please feel free to email me if it doesn't work out.

themustardseed said...

What a mouthwatering dish! Looks absolutely delicious. Love the rajasthani recipes in your blog!

Anonymous said...

In the gravy,when do we add the cashews and almonds?

Neha said...

hey wen do u add the kaju and almonds?

Unknown said...

Hi Neha, thanks for your interest and thanks for pointing out that even though I listed the ingredient, I never mentioned the use of it. Sorry.

I had soaked them in warm water and pureed it along with tomatoes to make gravy. That gives richness and thickness to the gravy.

LoveToCook said...

Can we make koftas ahead of the time, a day before?

Unknown said...

Absolutely LoveToCook, you can make them beforehand. They don't have to be crunchy and actually softer, so making them the night before or day before surely helps. Just make sure to store them well so that in this heat they don't go bad. May be in air-tight container or zip lock in fridge will do. Do let me know how it goes :)

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