How to make Palak Paneer Kofta Curry

We invite readers to share their recipes with us! Maahi Gupta wrote in to us and showed us how to make Palak Paneer Kofta Curry.

Maahi Gupta loves to cook, a passion her husband, Anil shares as well -- we recently posted one of his experimental recipes on Getahead.

The couple lives in Delhi -- he is a software engineer and she tosses up dishes for her website inhouserecipes.com.

In a series starting today, Maahi Gupta shows us how to make Palak Paneer Kofta Curry.

Description:

• Amazingly delicious dish to serve when your guests are at your place. It is made with cottage cheese (paneer) stuffed inside the spinach (palak) covering and the tomato onion gravy.
• The taste of Paneer inside the fried Palak kofta makes you feel on top of the world when it just melts in your mouth.
• Enjoy this dish with naan, chapaati or parantha.
• Serves two.

Ingredients:

• 500gms Spinach (Palak) - finely chopped
• 100gm Cottage Cheese
• 2 Tsp Curd/Yogurt
• 2" Ginger grated
• 2 Grated small onions
• 2 Tomato's Paste
• 1/4 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 2 Pinch Garam Masala
• 2 tsp Coriander Powder
• 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1/2 Tbsp Gram Flour (Besan)
• 1 Green Chilli
• 2 tsp Fresh finely-chopped Coriander leaves
• 1Tbsp Oil
• 1 Cup Water

Method:

• Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan.
• In hot oil, add Spinach and cook on high flame. Cook Spinach till it's water evaporates. Keep this in mind that you have to press the Spinach with spatula, to take out its excess water.
• Side by side, take a pan and switch ON the gas stove. On medium flame, roast Gram flour till it become golden brown.
• Add the dry spinach in roasted gram flour and mix well.

For the gravy

• Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and roast.
• Once the cumin seeds crackle, add ginger and fry on medium flame.
• After frying ginger for about a minute, add onions.
• Fry onions till they become golden brown.
• Add tomatoes and cook for about two minutes
• Add salt, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala and turmeric and cook for about two minutes again.
• Add water and curd to the gravy and mix well. After a boil, keep the gas stove on low flame for 5 min.

For the kofta

• Mash the cottage cheese. Add coriander leaves, green chilli, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of red chilli powder. Mix it well.
• Take small amount of cottage cheese and make small ball. Repeat the same to make all the balls. Keep them aside.
• Take a small amount of spinach mixture. Spread it on your palm and stretch it enough to accommodate the cheese ball in it.
• Cover the cheese ball with spinach mixture so that the cheese is not visible from anywhere. Give it a round shape. This is your raw Kofta.

To fry the koftas:

• Heat oil in a pan. Add koftas.
• Fry on medium flame and sprinkle oil on koftas from sides.
• Fry till they become golden brown from all the sides.
• Add all the fried koftas in your prepared gravy. After cooking it for about a minute, switch off the stove.
• Garnish it with coriander leaves. Enjoy with Naan, Chapati, Parantha.