• Difficulty: Medium

Ingredients

For Koftas

• 500 g Spinach
• 100 g Paneer (grated) (Cottage cheese)
• 4 tbsp Gram Flour
• 1/4 cup Cornflour
• 2 tbsp Oil(for deep frying)
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• Salt (to taste)
• 1 pinch Green cardamom powder
• 10-12 Garlic (finely chopped)
• 4-5 Green chili(chopped)
• 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper

For Tomato Gravy

• 4-6 Tomato (roughly chopped)
• 1 Onion(large, chopped)
• 10 cloves Garlic(chopped)
• Salt(as per taste)
• 5-6 Green Cardamom
• 2 tbsp Oil
• 10-12 Cashew(soaked in water)
• 2 tbsp Degi Mirch(Kashmiri mirch)
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 2 tsp Kasuri methi(dried fenugreek leaves)
• 2 tsp Honey
• 5 tbsp Fresh Cream
• 2 tbsp Fresh Coriander leaves(chopped)

Instructions

1. Clean the spinach(palak) properly and blanch it into 5-6 cups of water. Boil it just for 2-3 minutes. Drain and place the palak in running tap water. Squeeze out the excess water properly, chop it finely and keep aside.
2. Grate the paneer in a bowl, add salt, cardamom powder, garam masala powder, and black pepper, mix it properly. Roll the mixture into 8-10 equal sizes of balls.
3. Heat a pan, add oil, and heat it on medium flame. Add cumin seeds, garlic, green chilies, and saute for a minute. Add gram flour(besan) and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Add turmeric powder, salt, and spinach, fry it till all the moisture is gone, make sure the spinach is dried properly i.e. it doesn't have water content. Allow it to cool and divide into 8-10 portions.
4. Heat oil in another pan/wok. Add chopped onion, cashews, and fry till the onion becomes succulent. Add cardamoms, chopped garlic, degi mirch, and, salt, cook it for 1 minute. Add chopped tomatoes and cook it for 10-12 minutes till the tomatoes are cooked properly and leaving oil from the sides. Turn off the heat and keep aside the mixture and allow it to cool down properly.
5. In the meanwhile let us prepare the koftas. Take one portion of spinach(palak) mixture and flatten it like small chapati and place a paneer ball in the center.
6. Cover the paneer with the palak mixture by gathering all the edges with the help of your palm. Roll the koftas in the cornflour and dust out extra flour. Prepare the rest of the koftas accordingly.
7. Heat sufficient oil in a kadhai and fry all the koftas till golden brown or crisp. Note that you will place the koftas in the oil gently. Take out the koftas and place them on tissue paper/absorbent paper.
8. Next, add the tomato mixture(prepared earlier) into a blender and grind it to a fine and smooth paste. Add butter to the same pan/wok and allow it to melt completely. Now add the paste into the wok and bring it to a boil, add fresh cream, garam masala powder, and mix it well. Turn off the heat and now add Kasuri methi and honey, stir well.
9. Cut the koftas in two halves. Pour tomato gravy in a serving bowl and place these koftas in the bowl and garnish it with some fresh cream and freshly chopped coriander leaves(optional), and serve it naan or tandoori roti.