Malai Kofta Recipe (Restaurant Style)

My Malai Kofta recipe assures you light mouth-melting paneer koftas served with an extremely delicious and luxurious creamy curry. Whether you are hosting an Indian themed dinner or making a special meal for your family, this is surely going to bring you tons of compliments. After making this dish for many years I’m revisiting this recipe to guide you step-by-step with many expert & troubleshooting tips. Plus air fryer instructions for a no-fry paneer kofta.

Originally, Kofta belongs to a family of meatballs from the Central Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern and Balkan Cuisines. They come in different sizes & shapes like balls, patties and cylindrical. This vegetarian dish is more popular in the Indian restaurants than the meat version and is a celebratory dish, often made for special occasions like weddings and parties.

About Malai Kofta

Malai Kofta is a North Indian dish consisting of crisp fried paneer koftas dunked in a rich and creamy onion-tomato based curry. The Hindi word Malai translates to cream which not only says it’s made with cream but also means its texture is silky smooth and creamy.

These Koftas are made primarily with paneer, minimal ground spices and herbs to lift up the flavors. While a moderate amount of boiled potato goes in for a texture, cornstarch or all-purpose flour is used to combat the excess moisture and bind everything together.

Chopped nuts and raisins bring in some texture and natural sweetness to the paneer koftas. In India people use a little amount of mawa also known as khoya (milk solids) for sweeter & rich flavor. However with different kinds and brands of khoya in the market, the results vary a lot. So my recipe does not use it.

I make my malai kofta in 2 colors – orange color curry (tomato based) and white curry (no tomato). Every time I’ve made this dish for my guests the orange one was a showstopper. If you love the rich Mughlai style curry without tomatoes, you may try this yellow Shahi Paneer gravy or this white Malai Paneer gravy. But make the Paneer Koftas from this post.

Key Ingredients & Substitutes

• Paneer – I use store bought paneer but well-drained homemade also works. You may sub with pressed firm or extra firm tofu.
• Boiled potato – Old low moisture potatoes are best for this recipe. New potatoes are bad for your koftas as they hold lot of moisture and you will need to add more flour which makes your koftas dense.
• Cornstarch & all-purpose flour – Use cornstarch or equal amounts of cornstarch and all-purpose flour to absorb the excess moisture and bind the koftas. I prefer to roll the koftas in all-purpose flour as the exterior turns out much firmer and crispier than the cornstarch. I also felt they remained crisp for longer.
• Cashews – Malai kofta is always made with cashews but you may sub with overnight soaked almonds or with almond flour/meal. To make this nut-free, use half cup heavy cream at the last stage. You won’t get the same richness.
• Cream – Fresh dairy cream is used in India. You may use heavy cream, cooking cream or thickened cream. You can make this recipe with zero cream, use 10 cashew nuts more or 2 to 3 paneer cubes at the time of blending the ingredients.

More Paneer recipes,
Kadai paneer
Paneer lababdar
Paneer tikka masala
Palak paneer
Matar paneer

Photo Guide

How to make Malai Kofta (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. Heat a pan with 1½ tablespoons ghee or oil. Add

• 2 to 3 green cardamoms + optional spices like 1 small bay leaf, ½ inch cinnamon piece, 2 cloves + ¾ teaspoon cumin seeds or shahi jeera
• When they begin to sizzle add 1½ cups sliced onions (about 170 g from 1 large red or yellow onion)

2. Saute for 7 to 8 mins until light golden. Add 1 inch peeled & sliced ginger (about 10 g) 5 to 6 large garlic cloves (12 g). or you can also use 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste. Saute for 2 to 3 mins.

3. Add

• 2¼ cups red ripe tomatoes (350 grams or 4 medium sliced or chopped)
• 18 whole raw cashew nuts (36 grams, may sub with ¼ cup heavy/fresh cream at the end)
• ¾ teaspoon sea salt 

4. Saute or cook covered until mushy, for 8 mins. Stir in

• ¾ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder (may cut down for low heat)
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder (ground coriander seeds)
• ¾ to 1 teaspoon garam masala (adjust to preference)

5. Saute on a medium high heat until aromatic, for about 3 mins. Turn off, discard the bay leaf and cool down.

6. Pour 1 cup cold water to a blender and transfer the cooked onion tomato masala. Blend to a smooth puree.

Make the Malai Gravy

7. Heat 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter on a very low flame and optionally add chili powder to color and heat preference. Mine was already hot, so used only a ¼ tsp. I forgot to add butter and started with a tsp of ghee, so ended up adding at the end.

8. Place your strainer directly over the pan and strain the onion tomato puree. Use a spoon to speed up the task.

9. Pour half cup water (If you did not use cashews, going to sub with cream, omit the water here).

10. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cover and cook on a medium heat until thick and creamy. It takes me 10 mins. Stir every 3 to 4 mins to prevent burning.

11. Taste test to adjust salt & garam masala. Crush 1½ teaspoon kasuri methi in your palms and add it. Also stir in 1 tablespoon jaggery powder or 1 tsp sugar.

12. Stir in ¼ cup heavy cream/ fresh cream.

13. Cover and set aside to keep it warm.

Make Koftas

14. While you cook the gravy, boil 1 medium potato (atleast 130 grams, low-moisture old potato) until fork tender. Make sure you don’t overcook it to the extent it is water-logged and mushy. I pressure cooked mine in the instant pot for 9 mins. Cool down completely and grate it to a mixing bowl. It should be almost dry, not water-logged like seen in the picture. Use 100 grams, about half cup.

15. Pat dry 200 grams paneer with kitchen papers to get rid of excess moisture. You also need:

• 1 tablespoon coriander leaves fine chopped
• 1 to 2 green chilies deseed & chop (or ½ teaspoon ground black pepper)
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger or ginger garlic paste
• 1 tablespoon cashews (8 fine chopped, optional)
• 1 tablespoon raisins (8 to 10 fine chopped, optional)
• ½ teaspoon sea salt (adjust to taste)
• ½ to ¾ teaspoon garam masala (adjust to taste, or use ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder)
• 2½ tablespoons corn starch (25 grams, 1 tbsp more only if needed, read notes)

16. Grate the paneer finely to the same bowl and add all the other ingredients.

17. Mix together for 2 to 3 mins to form a smooth non-sticky dough. Shape to a ball. When you touch it with your fingers, it should not stick, rather it should be dry. If it’s wet, try adding a tsp more cornstarch. Adding too much can alter the texture so be cautious.

18. Divide the mixture to 12 to 14 portions (or even 15, about 24 to 28 grams each, depending on the size you prefer). Roll them to round crack free smooth koftas.

19. Place them on a tray. Reserve a large pinch of the mixture to test.

20. Roll the balls one by one in 1 tbsp cornstarch or all-purpose flour. Place them aside.

Frying Koftas

21. On a medium flame, heat 2 to 3 cups oil in a deep pan/kadai. While the oil is heating up, roll back the balls again in your palm and dust off the excess. This keeps your oil clear and prevents a hard crust over the koftas.

22. Test the oil if it is hot enough. Drop the reserved pinch of kofta mixture to the hot oil. If it sizzles and comes up to the surface without browning, the oil is hot enough to fry. If it sits at the bottom, it means the oil is not hot enough. Test a kofta for binding: Slide one kofta to the oil and see how it turns out. If it does not break in oil but hold shape well, you can go ahead to fry the rest. Gently slide the koftas one after the other and fry them undisturbed without touching, for 2 to 3 mins.

23. When they begin to turn golden, stir them gently and fry until golden & crisp.

24. Remove to a cooling rack or steel basket. I rolled only half the koftas in flour/starch and fried the rest as shaped (without rolling). Those with thicker crust in the picture are rolled.

Assemble Malai Kofta

Assemble only when you are ready to serve. Cool down the malai gravy to a warm temperature and transfer it to a serving dish. Cool the koftas slightly and place them in the gravy. Garnish with 1 tbsp of cream and chopped coriander leaves. (Avoid adding hot koftas to hot gravy). Serve Malai Kofta with Butter Naan, Tandoori Roti or Jeera Rice.

I usually do not assemble the dish but let my guests serve the gravy and koftas on their own. This ensures the koftas do not become too soft.

Air Frying Paneer Koftas

Preheat your air fryer or oven for 10 mins at 360 F/ 180 C. Place the koftas in a air fryer tray or basket and spray with oil. Air fry for 15 mins until golden, shake the tray/basket half way. Adjust the timing as required.

Expert Tips

• Boil your potatoes only until fork tender. We don’t want overcooked or water-logged potatoes. Too much moisture in the potatoes will disintegrate the kofta while frying.
• If your homemade paneer is too wet with whey, grate it, spread on a tray and leave it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight. Excess moisture will be dry out.
• If you don’t like to saute your onions in oil, simply dry saute for 4 to 5 mins and then continue with the recipe. Though the flavor is different while you saute, the end result is delicious and tastes the same.
• Fry the koftas only when the oil is hot enough. They are likely to disintegrate or soak up lot of oil, if the temperature of oil is low.

Variations

You can make stuffed kofta with chopped raisins and cashews. In restaurants, fine chopped cashews, raisins and mawa is mixed and stuffed inside the koftas. I prefer to add the nuts and raisins to the kofta mixture instead, for ease of making.

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This post was first published in August 2017. Updated in April 2026.