Spinach / Palak Paneer Kofta

To make palak paneer kofta seemed to be a long process. Since i was making paneer fresh at home. But when i started cooking, it didn't take too long to finish it.

Ingredients

To make fresh paneer
1.5 cup - Whole milk
3 tsp - Vinegar

To make spinach paneer dough

Prepared fresh paneer
10 oz ( 283 gram) - Frozen Spinach packet or use fresh spinach,chopped
3 to 4 tsp - Besan / bengal gram flour
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder
1/2 tsp - Ginger paste
1/2 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Garam masala powder
1 pinch - MDH kofta masala powder

To make gravy

1/2 tsp - Jeera / cumin
1 pinch - Hing
3 flakes - Garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp - Ginger, grated
1 - Green chili, chopped
1 medium size - Onion, chopped
2 - Tomato
1 tsp - Tomato paste
5 - Almonds
5 - Cashew nuts
3 to 4 tsp - Whipping cream Or
1.5 tsp - yogurts /curds
1.5 cup - Water

Garnish

Coriander leaves, chopped

Method

1 ) To make paneer - In a heavy bottom utensil, bring milk to a boil. Simmer heat and add vinegar. Stir continuously. The milk will curdle and whey will separate. Take off the stove and let it stand for a few minutes. (In picture, boiling milk and then curdled milk.)

2 ) Pour the contents to a cheese cloth placed on a sieve. Squeeze & drain out all the whey to get fresh paneer.

3 ) To make the kofta - Mix fresh paneer with rest of the ingredients listed for the kofta dough.When using frozen spinach, wash and drain all the water. Squeeze out all the water and then mix with other ingredients to make a dough.

4 ) Make small balls of the dough. Heat enough oil to deep fry kofta's. Fry kofta's to deep brown color. Take out and set aside.

5 ) To make the gravy - In a heavy bottom pan, heat some oil, add jeera, hing, garlic, ginger, green chili. Stir and fry for a minute. Add chopped onions and brown it well. Now add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, stir and fry till oil separates. Add almonds, cashew nuts and salt to taste. Take off the stove and cool.

6 ) Add the cooked gravy ingredients to a blender, add whipping cream or you can use yogurt and make a smooth paste.

7 ) Place a saucepan on stove, add the ground gravy paste and water in it. Bring to a boil, simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. Now add the fried kofta's to the gravy and cook for a minute or two. Take off the stove.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot as a side dish with roti or steamed basmati rice.

This is my recipe contribution for JFI-WBB greens, hosted by Indira of Mahanandi.