Malai Kofta is a classic Indian dish that is both delicious and nutritious. Whenever we visited an Indian restaurant, this is the first dish I would order! I loved it!
This vegan version of the traditional dish uses whole food plant-based ingredients to create a flavorful and healthy meal.
The golden brown koftas are made with potatoes, carrots, and tofu, while the creamy sauce is made with cashews, coconut milk, and spices.
Serve this dish with steamed brown basmati rice or your favorite parathas for an amazing meal!
How to Make Delicious and Healthy Whole Food Plant Based Malai Kofta
This vegan version of the traditional malai kofta dish is made without deep frying or using heavy cream, making it a healthier option. Here are some healthy swaps you could try:
The koftas are made with potatoes, carrots, and tofu instead of homemade paneer.
Raisins add sweetness to the kofta mixture instead of sugar and make it even more delicious.
The creamy gravy is made with cashews, whole coconut milk, and spices instead of heavy cream for a flavorful vegetarian dish that is dairy-free too.
Use almond flour instead of all-purpose flour to bind the kofta mixture.
Use water instead of olive oil, coconut oil or ghee for sautéing the onions and garlic.
Add fresh ginger and garlic paste instead of a packaged product to the gravy for a flavorful kick.
Use vegetable broth instead of water for a richer flavor in the gravy.
Garnish with fresh herbs like coriander to the kofta mixture for extra flavor and nutrition.
Malai Kofta is a classic Indian dish that is both delicious and nutritious. Whenever we visited an Indian restaurant, this is the first dish I would order! I loved it!
This vegan version of the traditional dish uses whole food plant-based ingredients to create a flavorful and healthy meal.
Author:
Dr Achyuthan Eswar
Ingredients
2 potatoes, boiled and mashed (around 300 grams potatoes)
In a food processor, blend the boiled potatoes, carrots, tofu, raisins, cashew butter, coriander leaves, cardamom powder and garam masala powder until coarse and it comes together.
Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add kasuri methi, garam masala powder, coriander powder, and more crushed green cardamoms if you like.
Add miso paste or salt to taste if you need it, else this can be skipped because the gravy has salt in it. Mix everything together until combined.
Take small portions of the mixture and shape them into balls of lemon size.
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees C.
Line a baking pan with a silicone sheet or parchment paper and spread the kofta balls on it. Bake at 190 C until the balls of potato and tofu are golden brown but not too browned on all sides. Remove from heat and set aside on. This way, you can avoid deep frying, and there is no need to use a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil - because there is no excess oil!
Instructions for Kofta Gravy
To make the gravy for the malai kofta, heat some water in a pan over medium heat and add onions, garlic and ginger paste along with bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Sauté for couple of minutes until fragrant.
Add almond butter, date syrup, miso paste or salt (depending on your health preference), water and green chilis to a mixie jar and blend until smooth. You can even use an immersion blender if you find it easier.
Add this mixture to the pan. Bring it to boil then reduce heat to low-medium flame and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until thickened slightly. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. Cook until the raw smell goes away.
To serve your amazing restaurant-style Malai Kofta, garnish with cashew nuts and serve hot with brown basmati jeera rice and Indian flatbreads like aloo paratha or jowar bhakri. Enjoy!
Recipe Note
Add 1 teaspoon of chilli powder to the kofta mixture for a spicy version of kofta gravy.
For a richer, creamier texture, add 2 tablespoons of plant based fresh cream to the gravy while garnishing. You can make your own plant based fresh cream by grinding cashew butter and water to a smooth paste in your mixie.
Simmer on medium-low heat and not high heat to prevent burning.
To make a smooth paste for the kofta curry, use a pressure cooker and blend all the ingredients together until it forms a creamy consistency.
To give your Malai Kofta Recipe an extra boost of flavor, add some Indian cottage cheese or Lauki Kofta to the mixture before baking in the oven.
This recipe gives you a white gravy. If you are okay with a yellow gravy, add 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder - it makes your gravy twice as healthy!
If you want to make it more moist, don't add a tbsp oil like most recipes call for - instead, increase almond butter and cashew butter. They are whole food sources of fat and much healthier.
If you want a thinner gravy, add a cup of water while simmering.
If you want a thicker gravy, make some cooking cream with almond butter and very little water. Add this cooking cream to the water, or remove one cup water from the gravy recipe.
Tofu is a great replacement for paneer cheese and even cream. You can even use only tofu to make your kofta balls and skip the vegetables altogether.
You can add even more Indian spices like powdered poppy seeds, cumin powder, extra cardamom powder, a teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 tsp chilli powder to the plant based 'paneer koftas' to make them more flavorful.
If you don't have cashew butter, you can make your own by grinding 8 tbsp cashew nuts to a smooth powder. Grind them even more to make 4 tbsp cashew butter. You can use this as a replacement for 4 tbsp butter in other baked recipes too.
To make a different kind of gravy, use onion tomato puree. Rich tomato flavours can give you a more typical 'Indian Gravy' for this malai kofta. You can use this kind of gravy for lauki kofta curry or bottle gourd kofta curry too.
If it tastes too 'ordinary', garnish with a teaspoon kasuri methi. This simple trick of adding one teaspoon kasuri methi can elevate the flavour of many dishes!
Though I do not encourage fortified food, however, the goodness of flaxseeds with dates and cocoa flavour (subtle) is delicious strong anti inflammatory food. If one can opt for non-fortified, would be very helpful.
The slightly dangling texture of the peanut butter when you open the jar or when you try to scoop out with a spoon shows its pure. You can still see minute crumbs of peanut which says its all natural ! Really love it for its purity. Thank you for this product.
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Roasted Garlic and Chili Cream Cheese | Rich & Delicious, Made with Freshly Pressed Tofu Abhishek Khetan (Bengaluru, IN)
