Malai Kofta - Restaurant Style Recipe

Malai kofta is a delicious fried potato and cottage cheese (Paneer) ball in a rich tomato based curry sauce. This popular Indian recipe creates delicious dumplings, perfect for soaking up all the velvety sauce. The air fryer lightens up the traditionally deep fried dumplings while the Instant Pot makes putting together the curry sauce effortless. You don't have to wait for a special occasion to make this yummy recipe and treat yourself and your family to a vegetarian delight!

This recipe was originally published in July 2016 and has been update to include Airfryer and Instant pot instructions, videos and pictures.

What is Malai Kofta?

Malai kofta is a popular Indian vegetarian recipe. Malai means cream in English. Kofta means fried balls. Malai kofta is fried balls in a rich, creamy sauce.

In our malai kofta, we use potatoes and paneer to make the balls. You can substitute some of the ingredients, like the paneer and ghee, with tofu and oil, to make the recipe vegan.

Watch Malai Kofta Video Recipe

Ingredients for Vegetarian kofta balls

Vegetarian kofta balls only need a few ingredients. They include:

• Boiled or mashed potatoes
• Paneer or cottage cheese
• Cardamom powder
• Salt
• Raisins
• Cashews

The gravy requires a few more ingredients. You'll need:

• Tomatoes
• Cashews
• salt
• Chili powder
• Yogurt
• Garam masala powder
• Dried Fenugreek leaves

Do you love Indian Recipes and do not know where to start ? Check out post om Indian Spices and How to Use Them You can read more about the Indian spices here.

How to make Malai Kofta

There are two parts to the recipe. You need to make the fried balls in the Air Fryer and the gravy or sauce in the Instant Pot. Here’s how to do it.

For the Kofta

You want to use boiled potatoes to make the balls. Boiled potatoes are mashable and help to hold the structure of the balls together. Once the potatoes are cool, you can grate them.

In a large mixing bowl, add the grated paneer and boiled potatoes. Next, add in the cardamom powder and salt to taste. Mix the ingredients until well combined.

Using your hands or spoon, scoop about 2 tablespoons of the paneer and boiled potato mixer out of the bowl into a well-greased hand. Press the mixture into your palm and add a few raisins and cashews in the center. Roll the mixture into a ball. Make sure the ball is about two bites so that they cook evenly and thoroughly.

Set the air fry them to 375 *F for 15 minutes or until they turn golden brown on the outside. If you prefer, you can deep fry them in a deep fryer or large pot and oil until they are golden brown. 

You could also cook them instead in an appe pan. For some tips and tricks on using the appe pan, check out our post full of appe pan recipes and tips here.

For the Gravy 

First, add the tomatoes, cashews, salt, red chili powder, yogurt, and water into the inner pot of your electric pressure cooker. Close the lid and close the pressure valve so that it is sealing. Set the pressure cooker to cook for 6 minutes. When it is done cooking, do a quick release of the pressure.

Carefully remove the lid when the pressure has released. Give the gravy a few minutes to cool. Then use a hand blender or an immersion blender to carefully blend the sauce until it is smooth.

Now strain the mixture to get rid of skin and seeds. You may need to strain it more than once until it is a silky, smooth tomato puree. Then, rinse the inner pot and remove any leftover gravy.  

Set Instant Pot to Saute mode and heat the ghee or oil. When it is hot, add the red chili powder and garam masala. Add in the strained tomato puree and sugar and mix well. Cover the pot and cook until the mixture starts to thicken. This will take about 5 -8 minutes.

Once the sauce has thickened, add in the crushed kasoori methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) and cream if you are using cream. Omit the cream if you are keeping it vegan.

Finally, pour the curry over the kofta. Serve the malai kofta  with our better than restaurant Garlic Naan

Pro Tips to make Malai Kofta

Here are some great tips for making perfect malai kofta:

• you can use sweet potatoes or raw bananas instead of the potatoes for slightly sweeter balls
• blend and strain the gravy for the smoothest consistency
• use heavy cream or light cream for the creamiest texture
• you can use either store bought or homemade paneer 

Can I Fry the Malai Kofta?

Yes, you can fry the recipe. If you are frying the kofta, you need to add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch or all purpose flour. If you prefer, you can use a slice of bread crumbled into small pieces or bread crumbs. 

Add the balls in the frying pan once the oil is hot or use an electric fryer or a large pot or pan that can heat the oil. You need to fry them until they are golden brown and crisp. Friers and stove tops vary so you may to need to experiment with timing for best results.

How to make the Kofta in Appe Pan / Aebleskewer pan?

An appe pan is a great, traditional Indian tool to make kafta and other favorites like veg manchurian. To use the appe pan, fill the cavities with the kofta balls. After a minute of cooking over medium-high heat, turn the balls over and cook the other side. The balls should be golden brown and crispy.

How to make the Kofta using the Crisplid?

If you have an Instant Pot with the Crisplid, you can use that to make the kofta. Follow the same instructions, setting the fryer to cook for 15 minutes at 375 degrees. You want the balls to be golden brown on the outside.

Can I make Malai Kofta Vegan?

You can make malai kofta vegan with a few replacements. Instead of using paneer, you can use tofu. Also, you want to skip the ghee and use oil instead. Finally, don’t add cream to the sauce, though you could try using almond or coconut milk if you want a bit of extra creaminess.

Can you freeze malai kofta?

You can freeze it if you keep the sauce separate. First, cooled sauce into a freezer safe bag or container. For the kofta, add the cooled balls to a freezer bag or freezer safe container. Wrap the balls with paper towels to help prevent extra moisture from building on the balls. 

When you are ready to eat, defrost the balls and sauce in the fridge. Heat up the balls in your air fryer for about 2 to 3 minutes at 350 degrees or place them in the microwave for about 1 minute. Reheat the sauce in a pan or pot and add the balls once the sauce is warmed through.

What to serve with Malai Kofta?

We often like to serve the recipe with foods that can soak up the extra gravy. Some of our favorite pairings are naan, paratha, and jeera rice. They let you enjoy every ounce of the gravy.

For a tasty and easy recipe to make jeera rice, check out this stove top rice recipe. You could also serve this with dal makhani or bhindi masala. You can serve it with a side of Garlic Naan or Roti Chapati

Are you an Indian food lover? Then you will love our recipes

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• Jeera Rice
• Palak Paneer

Make this delicious Malai Kofta for a flavorful indulgence you and your family will love!If you make this  recipe, don’t forget to come back and leave your feedback and star rating. We would be THRILLED if you would take a pic and tag us on Instagram @dbellyrulesdmind or Facebook @thebellyrulesthemind