Homemade Naan with Malai Kofta

Another year is gone and we are all set with a new beginning, new dreams and new resolutions! The last few days of every year are a little bittersweet for me. The days are full of celebrations and color and smiles but in the back of your mind you always think that this is going to end very soon and life will be again back to the grind. This time was no different! All the celebrations are over, we are all back to business although still a little hung over!

But for us, although the party is over, it is not at all boring around here! A lot is going on, a lot of plans in the making and a lot of changes waiting to happen of which I'll tell you soon. But there's one thing that never changes here whatever be the situation and

that is cooking and eating a lot of yummy food! I reali ed that it has been a while since I posted some good traditional Indian food here so I thought of starting the year's first recipe with it!Asked A what he would like to eat if I plan on making something nice and Indian and without wasting a second his answer was Naan and Malai Kofta. !o Naan and Malai Kofta it is!

If you know Indian food then you know what "aan is. !o I don't even want to try and tell you how incredibly delicious, light and easy to make this Indian bread is! I'll go there though but first let me #uickly tell you what $alai %ofta is, if you are already not familiar with the dish. &ou can 'ust call $alai %ofta an Indian vegetarian form of meatballs where potato dumplings (kofta) are fried and later cooked with a rich and creamy tomato sauce. &ou can definitely make it low fat without compromising on taste and that's what I have tried to do here with this recipe. !o let's begin

with how to make fresh restaurant style Naan bread (without yeast) at home and then get to the recipe for Malai Kofta.

*ow to make "aan bread at home

!erves Ingredients + cups all purpose flour or wheat flou ,-+ cup of warm mil ,-+ cup of yogur ,-. tsp sal /-. tsp baking powde ,-+ tsp baking sod ,-+ tbsp sugar ,-+ tbsp oi These are the ingredients for dough and then you can flavor your naan with all kinds of herbs. I made cumin naan, garlic naan, butter naan and some topped with cilantro greens. !o this is up t you Method:

$i0 all the dry ingredients together and make a well of flour "ow mi0 milk and yogurt together and pour half of it into the well and slowly combine it together I don't think there's an e0act amount of li#uid that should be added to the e0act amount of flour to make a perfect dough. !o what I do is add li#uid 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 oi on hand and then punch into the dough. 1over with damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least + hours

After a few hours, dust your working board, take out the dough and knead it for about +2/ minutes. 3ivide the dough into smaller balls (in this case you should get about 4 balls to make naans).

3ust the board again and flatten the balls to make bread which is a little thick and elongated. "ow 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. *eat a thick bottom skillet or a wok or any heavy bottom pan with a lid. 5nce its nicely hot place the naan wet side down which would stick and cover it with a lid. 6et it cook for about /7 secs or until you see bubbles on it."ow cook the other side of the naan over direct flame of the burner with the help of tongs. 8hen you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done. !mother some good amount of butter on your naans and when you taste them you'll know what a peaceful life means! Recipe for Malai Kofta: As I said before, the traditional $alai %ofta is rich, creamy and nicely loaded with fat. But I tried to make a 9not so fatty9 version of it. I used grated s#uash dumplings instead of potato dumplings but you can use all kind of vegetables. By the way, the ingredients I'm going to be listing below might scare you but trust me 2 this dish is "5T 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!

!erves : Ingredients: For Koftas: , medium si e bottle gourd or s#uash (grated and water drained) + tsp fennel seeds + tsp coriander seeds , tsp red pepper flakes 1orn flour to bind everything together to be turned into smaller balls later !alt to taste 5il for deep frying For Gravy: , big bay leaf + black cardamom /2. cloves , tsp cinnamon powder /2. count peppercorn

, ,-+ tsp cumin seeds Or instead of the 6 ingredients above, you can use a tablespoon of garam masala. , cup onion paste + tbsp garlic paste , tbsp ginger paste + green chili , cup tomato puree + ,-+ tsp coriander powder , tsp turmeric ,-. cup low fat cottage cheese :24 cashews / tbsp milk ,-. cup olive oil !alt to taste Method: For Kofta vegetable dumplings!

The two ingredients that you see above are the hidden 'ewels of your dumplings! 1oarsely crush fennel seeds and coriander seeds and mi0 them with the rest of the ingredients. Add corn flour enough for everything to bind together well. $ake lime si ed balls and deep fry them in oil at a temperature of somewhere around /;7 deg. <. <ry them until the dumplings turn nice and brown. =ull them out and drain all the e0tra oil on a paper towel. These vegetable dumplings are a great way to give your little ones some vegetables. 8orks like a charm for me every time! For the gravy: >rind the bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, cumin and cinnamon in a coffee grinder to make a powder. !oak cashews in milk for about an hour and .; minutes and then

make a paste out of them. *eat oil in a pan and thrown in the onion, ginger and garlic paste. 1ook it well on medium heat for about ,; minutes or until the paste turns brown in color. "ow 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. 1ook it for another ,7 minutes or until all the water from the tomato is gone. "ow 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 I'm talking about the bo0ed low fat cottage cheese which has a little li#uid in it with cheese crumbles and not the paneer you get in Indian stores. %eep stirring until all the crumbles of cheese dissolve and then add cashew paste. $i0 well and at last you have to add your spices (garam masala) powder. $i0 again. Add about + ,-+ 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 #uick 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.) ?n'oy your koftas with homemade naans or rice!

Vegetable Stew - Kerala style with Aapam Category - Quick dinner, Stew, Regional Cuisine of India Time Taken - Under 20 minutes for stew and over a minute er aa am Stew serves 2-! eo le generously Ingredients: 2 otatoes, "oiled, eeled and cu"ed 2 cu s small cauliflower florets #$2 cu fres% $ fro&en green eas # ts oil !-' cloves 2 green cardamoms #( stick cinnamon # - 2 green c%illies, sliced #$2 ts ginger s%redded 2 s rigs curry leaves a inc% of turmeric owder #$2 ts sam"ar owder )o tional* #$2 ts salt # cu coconut milk Directions In a an, lace over #$2 cu water wit% t%e cauliflower florets and green eas+ Cover wit% tig%t fitting lid and "oil for '-, minutes, until "ot% veggies are tender yet cris + -ee aside+ In a wok, %eat t%e oil+ Stir in t%e w%ole s ices and t%en t%e c%illies, ginger and curry leaves+ .fter !0 seconds, add t%e cu"ed otatoes, eas and cauliflower along wit% t%e water used for "oiling+ Season wit% salt, turmeric owder and sam"ar owder+ Stir well+ /nce t%is comes to a simmer, add a cu of coconut milk+ 0et t%is come to a gentle simmer and t%en remove from flame+

1or .a ams - I used t%e ready Rice 2alaa am mi3 )1ine rice flour wit% yeast* to "e reconstituted wit% water, salt and a inc% of sugar+ -ee t%is covered for over an %our+ 4rease a ts of oil on a rounded aa am an or any non stick an+ 5i e wit% a tissue to s read t%e oil all over t%e surface+ /n a moderately %ot an, our a ladle of t%e "atter, and rotate t%e an around to s read t%e "atter into a circle+ Cover and cook on medium flame+ .a ams are cooked only