Paneer Stuffed Spinach Koftas in Makhani Gravy

Method for Spinach Koftas: Separate the spinach leaves and blanch them in boiling water for 4-5 mins. and then immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled, finely chop the spinach leaves.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan, add jeera and garlic. Once they brown, add besan and cook it for 2-3 mins. till raw smell goes away.

Add chopped spinach leaves and cook till the mixture is dry and leaves the sides of the pan.

Till the spinach mixture cools down, in a separate bowl, add salt & pepper to taste in crumbled paneer and mix well. Make equal sized balls of the paneer mixture and set aside.

Now take the spinach mixture in a separate bowl and add mashed boiled potatoes, salt & pepper to taste and make a dough like mixture. The dough will be a little sticky but do not make it too sticky.

If it is too sticky, you may add more potatoes, but that will affect the softness of the koftas.

Take a little amount of spinach dough in your palms, flatten it, place the paneer ball in the dough and cover it from all the sides with the spinach dough. Likewise, make all the koftas and keep aside.

Heat oil in a wok and fry koftas till golden brown and keep aside. You can test fry one kofta in oil, if it splits you can coat and dust the koftas with a little cornflour and then fry them.

Preparation Method for Makhani Gravy: Heat oil in a pan. Add jeera, bay leaf, cloves, whole black pepper and cinnamon stick. Once it crackles, add ginger, garlic and onions.

Saute onions till light pink in colour and translucent, and the raw smell of the ginger and garlic goes away. Add chopped tomatoes.

Add cashews and almonds and add little water and cover the pan with a lid. Switch the flame to low and cook till the tomatoes and onions are tender. Do not let the masala dry completely. We need a little watery mixture to make smooth puree.

Once the masala is cooked and cooled, grind the masala in a blender to a puree. Strain the puree through a sieve to get a smooth silky gravy.

Heat butter in a pan, add the gravy and add salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder, shahi paneer masala, and cook for 5 mins.

Add sugar/honey and adjust the seasoning as per preference. Add kasoori methi, and cream and mix well.

Add water/milk to adjust the consistency of the gravy and add coriander powder and garam masala powder and cook for 5-10 mins on a low flame.

Add a few coriander leaves and serve the gravy piping hot.

For serving, cut the koftas in 2 halves and heat them in the microwave for 20 secs. Pour gravy in a serving dish, place the cut koftas on the gravy , garnish with fresh cream and enjoy with rice, roti, naan or paranthas.