Homemade Naan with Malai Kofta

Serves 4Ingredients:2 cups all purpose flour or wheat flour1/2 cup of warm milk1/2 cup of yogurt1/4 tsp salt3/4 tsp baking powder1/2 tsp baking soda1/2 tbsp sugar1/2 tbsp oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well of flour.Now mix milk and yogurt together and pour half of it into the well and slowly combine it together.I dont think theres an exact amount of liquid that should be added to the exact amount of flour to make a perfect dough. So what I do is add liquid slowly and combine it all together slowly until a soft dough is made. The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to hand too much then use little bit of oil on hand and then punch into the dough.Cover with damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 2 hours.After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about 2-3 minutes. Divide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 8 balls to make naans).Dust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread which is a little thick and elongated.Now sprinkle one side of the bread with whichever flavor you want. I made cumin, minced garlic, chopped cilantro and some simple butter naans.

Brush the other side with water.

Heat a thick bottom skillet or a wok or any heavy bottom pan with a lid. Once its nicely hot place the naan wet side down which would stick and cover it with a lid.

Let it cook for about 30 secs or until you see bubbles on it.Now cook the other side of the naan over direct flame of the burner with the help of tongs. When you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done.Smother some good amount of butter on your naans and when you taste them youll know what a peaceful life means!Recipe for Malai Kofta:As I said before, the traditional Malai Kofta is rich, creamy and nicely loaded with fat. But I tried to make a not so fatty version of it. I used grated squash dumplings instead of potato dumplings but you can use all kind of vegetables. By the way, the ingredients Im going to be listing below might scare you but trust me this dish is NOT complicated or difficult at all. And if you have to drive the car to go out and buy some ingredients, do it! Its so worth the effort!

Serves 6Ingredients:For Koftas:1 medium size bottle gourd or squash (grated and water drained)2 tsp fennel seeds2 tsp coriander seeds1 tsp red pepper flakes

Corn flour to bind everything together to be turned into smaller balls later

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

For Gravy:1 big bay leaf2 black cardamom3-4 cloves1 tsp cinnamon powder3-4 count peppercorn1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Or instead of the 6 ingredients above, you can use a tablespoon of garam masala.1 cup onion paste2 tbsp garlic paste1 tbsp ginger paste2 green chili1 cup tomato puree2 1/2 tsp coriander powder1 tsp turmeric1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese6-8 cashews3 tbsp milk1/4 cup olive oil

Salt to taste

Add corn flour enough for everything to bind together well.Make lime sized balls and deep fry them in oil at a temperature of somewhere around 350 deg. F.Fry them until the dumplings turn nice and brown. Pull them out and drain all the extra oil on a paper towel.These vegetable dumplings are a great way to give your little ones some vegetables. Works like a charm for me every time!For the gravy:Grind the bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, cumin and cinnamon in a coffee grinder to make a powder.Soak cashews in milk for about an hour and 45 minutes and then make a paste out of them.

Heat oil in a pan and thrown in the onion, ginger and garlic paste.Cook it well on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until the paste turns brown in color.Now add salt and turmeric. The sign that your onion is well is that as soon as you add salt, oil will start separating.

Add coriander powder and tomato puree. Cook it for another 10 minutes or until all the water from the tomato is gone.Now you can add your cottage cheese. This step might seem a little unusual to those who are used to adding heavy cream to their malai kofta or mughlai gravy but trust me on this one! And Im talking about the boxed low fat cottage cheese which has a little liquid in it with cheese crumbles and not the paneer you get in Indian stores.Keep stirring until all the crumbles of cheese dissolve and then add cashew paste.

Mix well and at last you have to add your spices (garam masala) powder.

Mix again.

Add about 2 1/2 cups of water and let it simmer for a few minutes. I like my gravy a little thick, if you want it thinner add more water.Throw in the kofta balls and give it a quick boil. (In case of potato koftas I cook the gravy seperately and then pour it over the koftas before serving or else they tend to get soggy if left in gravy for a while.)Enjoy your koftas with homemade naans or rice!0