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.