Spinach Paneer Koftas

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Written by Archana Doshi

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Spinach Paneer kofta's are extremely delicious and is very common dish that i make at home. The lightly deep fried spinach with stuffed paneer brings out the individual taste. When cut into half and served, it gives a moonlit night feel to the kofta. The makhani gravy has a slight touch of sweetness, which enhances the taste of the makhani gravy. Enjoy this dish with hot phulka's or a bread of your choice.

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients For Koftas

• 1 cup crumbled paneer
• 5 cups finely chopped spinach
• ¼ cup of gram flour
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• Salt to taste
• Vegetable/Sunflower oil for deep frying

Ingredients For Makhani Gravy

• 1 cup onion
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped ginger
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar/honey
• ½ cup cream or reduced fat milk
• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves.
• 2 tablespoons vegetable/sunflower oil
• Salt to taste

Method for Kofta

Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan; sauté the spinach on high heat until it gets soft enough and before it gives out its water. Turn off heat at this point.

Allow the spinach to cool.

Once it cools mix the gram flour and salt to taste. Divide into 12 portions.

Mix paneer, cumin powder and salt; divide into 12 portions/balls.Try to make sureit does not become brittle. If it is ready made paneer, it could have a brittle texture, if that is the case, add a little warm water and knead it, then divide it into portions.

In the mean while, heat about 2 cups of oil in a wok. The amount of oil you use for frying the kofta’s depends on the size of the wok. So use your judgment in this regard. You need to be able to deep fry the kofta’s in the oil.

Take a portion of the spinach, flatten it on your palm and stuff the paneer balls in it. Shape it into a ball (kofta). While doing this, you might feel that the spinach mixture is not that pliable that it easily folds onto the paneer and makes a ball. That's the right feeling. Its not very easy to handle them. If you feel the spinach does not cover the paneer properly, just patch the paneer all around with the spinach mixture. It works!

Once the oil is hot, slowly put a few kofta’s at a time for frying.

Fry them on high flame and take them out when they turn brown in color. Frying on low flame will make it consume a lot more oil.

Drain in a paper napkin.

Method for gravy

Make a fine paste of onion, garlic and ginger together.

Puree tomatoes until smooth.

Heat oil in a frying pan/wok; Sauté the onions, garlic and ginger paste until cooked and raw smell almost gone, about 2-3 minutes. Add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, chilli powder and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add Tomatoes, milk/cream, and salt to taste and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Add the sugar/honey, kasuri methi and simmer for a few minutes.

You can either serve the kofta’s cut into half on top of the makhani gravy or add them as a whole. Do not boil the kofta’s in the gravy as they are liable to break.

The tip is to add the kofta’s into the makhani gravy and the coriander just before serving. Stir gently to make sure the kofta’s don’t break.

Enjoy the kofta’s with hot phulka’s .

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