Spinach & Malai Kofta(Creamed Spinach & CottageCheese Dumplings)

'Malai' means Cream and 'Kofta' means dumplings. A dish for special occasions, Malai Kofta is the vegetarian alternative to meatballs and is generally made of cottage cheese in creamed gravy.For this recipe I used a combo of Spinach and Paneer(Cottage Cheese) to make the balls. Further, I tried it out in the microwave for the first time rather than the on stove top.

Ingredients:
For the Kofta Balls:

• Fresh or Frozen Spinach - 1/2 cup, finely chopped, completely drained
  
• Paneer - 12 ounces(about 2 cups), crumbled
• Parsley - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
  
• All-purpose Flour - 1 tbsp
• Cracked Pepper - 1 tsp (optional)
  
• Milk - 2 tsp
• Salt  - A dash

For the Gravy:

• Whole Milk or Cream - 1 1/2 cups
• Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
• Ground Pepper - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - for taste
  

To Grind:

• Tomato - 3, medium, chopped
  
• Red Onion - 1, small, diced
• Cashews - 1/2 cup
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Ginger - 1 inch, skin removed
  
• Red or Green Chilli - 4
• Cinnamon - 1/4 of a stick
• Cloves -3
• Star Anise - 1/2
  

Procedure:

• In a bowl, mix all the ingredients under "For Kofta Balls" and form a nice dough. Divide them into even small dumplings.

• In a microwave safe bowl, add the kofta balls and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Set aside. 
• Grind using the blender all the ingredients  under "For Grind" starting with the spices and cashews.
  
• In another microwave safe bowl, add the ground paste and all the ingredients under "For Gravy" and microwave on HIGH  for 15 minutes. Lid the bowl partly to avoid splattering. Keep stirring every 5 minutes.
• Check for taste and add the balls into the gravy and microwave on HIGH for another 3 minutes.

• Serve hot as an appetizer or with Naan/ButterNut Basmati Rice.

Makes ~9 golf-ball sized dumplings.

Note: Can be made on stove-top too.

Enjoy!

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