Paneer Kofta or Cottage Cheese in Rich Gravy

Paneer or cottage cheese is one of the favourite ingredients of our household. Generally, in our house we consume vegetable meal on every Saturday. And it has become a national crisis for us to decide the menu. As like any other Bong family, we need a starter, dal, fry, one veg dish and one special dish with rice. In Saturday, the special dish is either paneer or Mushroom.  Generally we do paneer curry or mixed veg with rice. But sometime our taste buds want something special and spicy for the weekend. Then my choice is Paneer Kofta.

Paneer Kofta is a hot favourite in my house. It perfectly goes with both rice and roti. The rich colour of gravy and the loaded aroma will definitely tickle your taste bud. And the most comforting part of the recipe is that it can be made with common ingredients.

  Ingredients:

  Paneer: 300 grms

  Onion: 3 medium

  Ginger: 1 inch

  Garlic: 6 pods

  Tomato: 2 medium

  Green chilly: 4

  Turmeric powder: 1tspn

  Bay leaf: 2

  Cardamom: 4

  Cinnamon: 1.5 inch

  Mace and nutmeg powder: 1 tspn

  Garam Masala Powder: ½ tspn

  Red chilly powder: 1 tspn

  Cumin seed: 1 tspn

  Coriander powder: 1 tspn

  Chat masala: 1 tspn

  Coriander leaf: 1 bunch

  Salt: according to taste

  Oil

 Method:

First of all, grate the paneer. Now smash the grated paneer with coriander leaves, chat masala, coriander powder, and salt. Make small balls of the paneer mix. Add oil in the wok. When the oil is hot enough, fry the paneer balls. When the balls have become brown, set them aside. Now add some more oil in the wok. Make a paste of onion, garlic, ginger, green chilly and tomatoes. Add some cumin seed, red chilly and a bay leaf in the hot oil. Let them splatter for a minute. Now add the cinnamon and cardamom. When the oil will release a beautiful aroma, add the onion paste. Now sauté it in high flame. Add salt, sugar, turmeric powder along with it. When the mixture will start to release oil add the red chilly powder. Then add sufficient water. After adding water, put a tspn of mace and nutmeg powder. Cover it with a lid and let the curry boil for some minute. When you can see the rich gravy on the wok, add the garam masala powder and turn off the gas. In a bowl, place the paneer balls and pour the gravy from the top. Now your paneer kofta is ready. Serve it with hot rice or roti.