Palak and Cheese Kofta Curry

A few years back, cooking classes were a rage among all my mom’s friends. And they found one Mrs. Kapoor who taught all North Indian curries, rice preparations, koftas, Indian chineese, soups, cakes etc. I had attended one cake workshop with her, my first one, long time back. And then my sister-in-law attended a few of her classes and this is her creation.

The list of ingredients is long, but once you get it all together it is very simple. Just mix it all, fry and put it in the curry.

In Indian cooking, unlike baking, a few ingredients and measures can be adjusted. Feel free to do so if you don’t have any particular thing in your house. Or you can replace aamchur powder with say mint powder or substitute with lemon juice altogether. Feel comfortable.

My friends have come up with a specially coated range of stoneware – frying pan and kadhais called the Khlos Life. Its beautiful and we have been using it even for all our daily cooking since we got it. You can check them out on Amazon.

Palak and Cheese Kofta in Curry

What you will need:

For the koftas outer covering –

• 3 potatoes, boiled and mashed
• 1 teaspoon ginger- chilli paste
• 2 tablespoon corn flour
• 1 teaspoon aamchoor powder
• salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoon or so

For the kofta filling –

• 1 bunch palak (boiled, squeezed and chopped finely)
• 3 cubes cheese grated
• 1 teaspoon ginger chilli paste
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
• salt to taste , about 1/2 teaspoon
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• few drops of lemon juice

For making tadka for the gravy –

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 onion chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ajwain

For the gravy –

• 4 tomatoes pureed without skins
• 1/4 cup curd
• 2 teaspoon besan
• 3 tablespoon kaju powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon jeera powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt to taste, about 1/2 – 1 teaspoon
• 1/4 cup coriander chopped
• pinch of orange red color (optional)

What to do :

1. Mix all ingredients for the kofta outer covering and knead it like a soft dough. keep it aside.
2. Mix all ingredients of the kofta filling and check for seasoning.
3. Make small balls of the filling and stuff them into disks of the outer covering and seal well. You will get about 10-12 koftas.
4. Heat some oil in a kadhai, and fry the koftas on medium heat. Drain on kitchen paper.
5. To make the gravy, I used the Khlos Deep kadhai. Heat the 2 tablespoon of butter, add the ajwain, onion and garlic and saute for  minutes.
6. In a mixer or a food processor, churn everything required for the gravy.
7. Pour it over the tadka in the kadhai and cook it on medium heat for 5-6 minutes till it starts to thicken.
8. Put the koftas in the curry just before serving. Serve piping hot with some chapatis or rice.

Notes :

1. 1 bunch of palak is roughly 3/4 cup when boiled and chopped.
2. I have used fresh ginger and fresh chilli paste. And packaged ready garlic paste. You can use all fresh or all packaged. Adjust the salt accordingly.
3. If you wish, add more water to the curry and keep it thinner for rice.

Rutvika Charegaonkar