The rich creamy Malai Kofta has been my favorite North Indian curry since childhood. I am very picky when it comes to Malai Kofta. It has to be the exactly right amount of (slight) sweetness, mildly spicy...it has to be creamy... the koftas should be such that that they melt in your mouth. It was hard enough to get such a perfect preparation in restaurants in India, let alone the Indian restaurants in the United States (for those who don't know, the Indian restaurants in US serve excessively sweet curries). Within the first few weeks in the States, I had realized that if I wanted to eat good Indian food, I had to cook it myself. For a boy who a year ago had never even cut an onion, or could not even judge the proportion of salt in a curry, preparing Malai Kofta was kind of like a big achievement for me!

Here's what to know about Malai Kofta:
The kofta are the dumplings, usually made from a mixture of mashed potatoes and paneer (cottage cheese) with dry fruit stuffings(optional). You could just use paneer and avoid the mashed potatoes all together...but I prefer it with potatoes.
The curry is the typical North Indian style curry...slightly sweet, mildly spicy. The difference being, this one is much more creamier because of the cashew paste.

So here it is...the recipe for the rich creamy Malai Kofta, from the boy who cooks...

Malai Kofta Recipe | How to make Malai Kofta prep time 20 min cooking time 30 min total time 50 min Course: Main Type: Curry Cuisine: Indian, North Indian Taste: Mildly sweet, mildly spicy Ingredients: For Kofta:      2 medium sized potatoes – boiled and grated      300 gms paneer (cottage cheese) – grated      1/3 teaspoon red chilli powder      1/4 teaspoon garam masala      2 teaspoons cornflour      2 teaspoons almond powder      Salt as required For Curry:      3 medium sized onions      2 tomatoes      1/2 cup cashews      1 teaspoon Ginger + Garlic paste      1 teaspoon red chilli powder      1/2 teaspoon garam masala      1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder      3 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 2-3 green cardamom, 1.5 inch cinnamon stick      1 teaspoon kasuri methi      salt as required      sugar as required      2 teaspoon of cream      1 cup milk      1 cup water Recipe: Preparing Kofta: Mix the ingredients for Kofta in a bowl Stuff some dry fruits like broken cashews and raisins and make round medium sized dumplings Heat oil in a kadhai Coat the koftas with cornflour and fry them until slightly golden (Do not fry till they turn brown) The koftas are ready…keep them aside while we prepare the curry Preparing the Curry: Heat water in a vessel and boil onions, tomatoes and cashews in it for about 15 min Boiling onions removes the spiciness in it, which in turn helps making the curry just the right amount of sweet You know that the cashews are done when they start floating on the boiling water Make a paste of onions in a grinder Heat some oil in a kadhai and add the bay leaf, green cardamom, cloves and the cinnamon stick and fry a bit Add the onion paste and fry till it turns golden brown Add ginger + garlic paste and fry till the raw aroma goes away After boiling the tomatoes, remove their skin and puree them Now add this tomato puree to the fried onion paste Add the red chili powder, garam masala and turmeric powder Make a paste of the boiled cashews. Add some milk to it to better grind it into a smooth paste Add the cashew paste to the curry and fry for another 5 min Now add the milk and water to the curry Add salt and sugar as required Bring the curry to a boil and add crushed kasuri methi Add cream and stir. You can also add some food color (I prefer yellow for Malai Kofta curry) Add the previously made Koftas to the the curry  Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and dry fruits. Serve with Naan or Roti.