Paneer Kofta - Indian cheese balls in a delicious creamy sauce

A rich dish which will be the specialty in a tasty meal with Indian flavour!

How to make Paneer Kofta

The very first step is to make paneer, which you can prepare according to this recipe. Once you have the cheese and have drained out the water, you spread it with your hand in order to create a flake-like consistency. Take the chopped ginger, the raisins and a little bit of salt and mix it all together. Now form balls out of this mixture which are the size of table tennis balls.

Take the fine wheat flour and mix just as much water into it as it needs in order to get become semi-liquid. It should be about as liquid as maple syrup, not as pasty as honey.

Heat up the oil for deep-frying in a pot or pan. When it is hot, take the cheese balls one by one and dip them first into the paste of flour and water so that they are covered from all sides by a layer of the paste. After that you softly drop the ball into the hot oil. Stir gently while taking care not to make them fall apart. Deep-fry them while turning them carefully so that they get golden from all sides. Once they have reached the wished-for colour, you can take them out and place them on a clean kitchen towel so that the excessive oil can be soaked up by the towel.

Now you can start preparing the gravy. Wash the tomatoes and then place them into a blender, making puree out of them. After that you put it aside and take the yoghurt, adding coriander, turmeric, garam masala, ginger powder, mango powder, nutmeg and black salt into it. Mix all of these powdered spices well into the yoghurt.

Heat up one tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, add cumin and asafetida when it is hot and stir until the spices have developed their aroma. Add the tomato puree into the pan and stir until the spices are mixed into the tomato sauce. Add the yoghurt sauce and mix it all together. You now need to let the whole mixture cook for about five minutes while stirring from time to time. After five minutes you add the cup of water and let it cook for approximately three minutes more until the water is not separate from the sauce anymore.

Finally you can add the paneer balls into the dish. Let the whole dish cook for another two minutes on low heat so that the balls get to soak in some of the gravy. Add cream, stir once more and let it get warm as well.

Serve it hot and with rice or bread - you and your guests will love it!