Kofta dishes are famous in north India. There are varieties of kofta curries, like lauki (bottlegourd) kofta, paneer kofta, banana kofta, malai kofta & chicken kofta. Hariyali paneer kofta curry is prepared using deep fried stuffed panner in spinach balls and dipped in rich, sweet & creamy gravy. This kofta curry tastes delicious and goes very well with naan, paratha or jeera rice.
Ingredients
For Onion & Tomato puree
- 3 medium Onion
- 3 Tomato
- 2 bay leave
- 2'' Cinnamon Stick
- 2 floret Javitri (Mace)
- 2 Black cardamom
- 4 Green cardamom
- 4 Cloves
For Curry
- 1 cup Curd (yogurt)
- 2 tsp Garlic & ginger paste each
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 1 tsp Garam masala powder
- 2 tsp Coriander & cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Green cardamom powder
- 1/4 tsp Red chili powder
- 2 tsp Kasoori Methi
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 bay leave
- 2 Cloves
- 1 Green cardamom
- 1/2 floret Javitri (Mace)
- Salt to taste
- 3 tbs Cashew nut soaked in to hot milk (optional)
- 4 tbsp Olive oil for cooking
For Paneer Filling
- 100g Home made paneer or grated tofu
- 1 tsp Chaat masala powder
- 1/8 tsp Mace powder
- 1/4 tsp Red chili powder
- 1 tsp Green cardamom powder
- Salt to taste
For Hariyali Koftas
- 3 Boiled & mashed potatoes
- 3/4 cup Spinach puree
- 4 tbsp Corn starch
- 1/3 cup Bread crumb if needed take more
- 1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste each
- 1 tsp Green chili paste
- Salt to taste
- 1 cup Oil for fry
Instructions
- Ingredients for Kofta curry. Soak cashew nuts in hot milk for 1/2 an hour. Make a fine paste of cashew nuts and keep it aside.
- In a pot add 3 cup of water, add 1/2 cut onion and spices listed in the onion and tomato puree section and boil it for 15 minutes with lid on. Remove the boiled onion from the hot water and keep it aside. In a same water add tomatoes and boil for 1 minute. Remove the tomatoes from hot water, peel it and keep it aside, let it cool down. Filter all whole garam masala from water and store the water to prepare prepare curry later on.
- Grind the boiled onion and make a fine paste without adding any additional water, also grind the tomatoes and make a puree and keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a kadhai or pan, add cumin seeds, once its starts crackling, add bay leaves, cloves, green cardamon and mace. Add ginger & garlic paste, saute for 30 sec at medium heat. Add onion puree and little salt and saute until slightly golden color.
- Add tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes at medium heat then add turmeric powder, coriander & cumin powder, chili powder, green cardamom powder, saute it for 1 minute. Add thick curd and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add cashew nut paste (it's optional, if you don't want to use cashew nut paste jut skip it). Saute for 2 minutes at low to medium heat, stir continuously.
- Add kasoori methi, honey and garam masala, saute it for 1-2 minute, add the stored water in which onion was boiled and 1 cup normal water, let it boil for 2-3 minute. Turn off the heat. Kofta curry is ready. Keep it aside.
- Take home made paneer or paneer from the store. If you are using store bought then first grate the paneer, and then knead the paneer with your palm and make a soft dough. Add chaat masala, mace powder, chili powder, green cardamom powder and little salt, mix it very well. You can use grated tofu instant of paneer.
- Make a equal size of small paneer balls. Keep it aside.
- Boil potatoes, remove it from the hot water immediately. Peel and mash it. Blanch the spinach in hot water for 1 minute, remove from the hot water and squeeze the water from the spinach. Grind it and make a thick paste. If required add some mashed potato to spinach and then grind. In a mixing bowl, add boiled and mashed potato, spinach paste, bread crumbs, corn starch, ginger & garlic paste, green chili and salt to taste. Mix all ingredients very well and make a nice green dough (if dough is watery, add more bread crumbs).
- Take an equal size of spinach dough, make a small size ball and fill paneer ball in to it and make a oval shape. Dust with some corn starch. Keep it aside.
- Heat oil in a kadhai at medium to high heat. Once it's hot, bring temperature to medium heat and drop green kofta in to hot oil and fry until slightly golden color. Place the koftas on paper towel. (Before dropping second batch, bring temperature to high for 1 minute then reduce heat at medium heat, so that the kofta's don't split).
- Hariyali kofta curry is ready to be serve. Pour curry in serving plate and place kofta balls in to it. Garnish with little cream and coriander leave.
- Serve Hariyali paneer kofta curry with jeera rice, naan or paratha.
Recipe Notes
To make paneer at home, boil 4 cup full fat milk in heavy bottom pot at medium heat. Once gets start boiling, pour the 1-1/2 lemon juice on boiling milk. Once gets started curdling, turn off the heat. when its fully curdled, add some ice cube. Filter the milk cream using muslin cloth and wash it with running water to remove the lemon flavor from the cream. Tie the milk cream and hang it to drain all the water. Once all the water gets drained, wrap the milk cream in clean kitchen towel and keep it in a fridge for 5-6 hr to make paneer.
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