Palak Murg Kofta

Menu planning for a family or friends get together is fun but often very tedious. M's sole objective is to make something new, not have anything common - basically experiment with dishes and cuisines. However, N wants to make sure the work involved is doable in the time we have and there is some predictable dishes which never go wrong! It's quite a task aligning these two objectives.

In the recent Diwali get together at our place, the story was no different. The first predictable dish decided was our quite popular paneer tikka masala and for managing the work we decided to order some Dal Makhani and Tandoori paranthas. Then, it was the turn to add one more dish to complete the menu. N suggested something non-vegetarian and M's mind started to work.

We aligned on making palak chicken but instead of putting normal chicken we made baked koftas from minced chicken. Well, it was another successful experiment on dear family!

Ingredients (Serves 4 -5 )

For Koftas
1/2 kg minced chicken
1 tbsp butter / ghee
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala powder (mixed Indian spices)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1tsp coriander powder
1 piece of bread soaked in 2 tbsp milk
Salt and freshly crackled black pepper

For Gravy
1 kg spinach
3 medium onions
4 plum tomatoes - pureed
2 Green chilies
2 inches piece of ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp red chilly powder
1 cup milk
Ghee

Method

For Koftas
1. Mix all the ingredients to form a uniform mixture. This will be tedious but needs to be done correctly.

2. Make kofta balls using a scooper or a table spoon and place on a baking tray

3. Bake for 10 min on high heat till the koftas start to brown. Keep aside.

For Gravy
1. Clean spinach and wash it properly. In a large bowl, add spinach and water and boil it for 5 - 7 mins.

2. In a grinder, pulse green chilies, onion and ginger into fine paste.

3. In a pan, add ghee and when hot, add onion, ginger and chilies paste.

4. When onion begins to get brown, add pureed tomatoes to it.

5. Add all the spices, sugar and salt to it and let it cook till oil begins to separate from masala.

6. Now, grind blanched spinach into coarse paste and add to masala.

7. Let it cook for 5 - 7 mins and then add milk to it. Cook it on slow for another 10 mins.

8. Finally, turn off the heat and add the prepared koftas.

Your gravy is ready !!