Khoya kofta curry...

Kofta curry always stands special for an elegant meal. Take it to the top by making koftas using khoya and the taste is heavenly. Soft and sweet koftas in rich creamy gravy makes a perfect side dish for roti, poori, naan, kulcha or whatever flatbread you love

I fell in love when I first had it at a restaurant, somewhere near my mil's house. I am not sure which restaurant though. Loved the taste that it kept lingering around me quite some time till I got a chance to figure out the exact taste and try it at home. It turned out very well and from then on the recipe has rested in my kitchen counters. Did not get a chance to make it lately as I dont get khoya very frequently. But whenever I buy some to make gulab jamuns, I sure make this recipe during the week to enjoy this favorite side dish 

Try not to complicate the gravy too much. Keep it simple and let the flavors keep coming. Enjoy the taste and have a great dinner

Serves... 4 ppl

Serve option... Hot with roti or naan

This is what u'll need....

For Koftas ->

Khoya - 1/2 cup
Potato - 1 small
Corn flour / maida - 1/2 tbspn
Oil for deep frying
Pepper - 1/4 tspn
Salt to taste

For gravy ->

Cashews - 5 nos
Khus Khus - 1 tspn
Onion - 1
Tomato - 1 
Red chilli powder - 1 tspn
Cumin powder - 1/2 tspn
Coriander powder - 1/2 tspn
Garam Masala - 1/4 tspn
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tspn
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tspn
Oil - 1 tbspn
Fresh Cream / Malai - 1 tbspn (optional)
Salt to taste

Here is the stir....

For the Koftas ->

• In a small working put all the ingredients needed to make koftas except oil. Knead it all together to make a soft dough

• Pinch out a small portion of the dough and make a small ball out of it. Repeat the process with rest of the kofta dough and make the remaining koftas

• Heat oil in a pan. To check oil put a small piece of dough into it. If it sinks to the bottom and takes a while to float up then you have to wait for a few more seconds. If the dough immediately starts sizzling and turns brown then might might want to turn off the heat for a while to reduce the temperature. When the oil is hot enough put the ball in so that it comes up in couple of seconds and starts browning slowly

• When it is evenly cooked and colored from all sides, remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Keep them in a separate bowl till the gravy is ready to be served

For the gravy->

• In a small pan dry roast cashews and khus khus till they are slightly crispy. Remove from flame and let them cool down

• Transfer these into a mixer and grind it to a fine powder. Add little water and grind it into a fine paste

• Chop onion roughly and stash it into the mixie jar. Grind it fine till it gets a puree consistency

• Now take a heavy bottomed pan or a nonstick pan. Add a tablespoon of oil into it and let it heat up

• Shake in mustard seeds and cumin seeds into it

• When the seeds start sizzling and crackling, pour in the onion-cashew mixture into

• Roughly cut the tomato and put it in the mixer jar. Give it a good pulse to make a fine puree

• Pour the tomato puree into the pan

• Time to spoon in the dry spices - red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder

• Stir everything around till they blend together and cook it covered on medium flame for a few minutes till oil starts oozing out. You might have to stir a few times during the course to avoid the gravy from sticking to the bottom or burning

• Once the raw smell has escaped its way and the gravy looks right, add half a cup to 3/4th cup of water

• Stir together and bring it to a boil. The gravy has to be a little thin as it will be soaked up by the koftas when served

• Sprinkle garam masala and turn off the flame

• When serving add the koftas to the gravy bowl and pour gravy on top. Garnish with a little fresh cream / malai to enhance the taste and look

• Enjoy hot with roti / naan 

Note:

• Fry koftas on medium flame to cook it perfect 
• When making the gravy, keep stirring every little while to avoid the gravy from burning / sticking to bottom
• Fresh cream gives a great taste but you can omit it if you dont like it