Vegan Malai Kofta

My aunt, Akka, an adventurous and intrepid cook, would often experiment with recipes from around India, usually with delicious results. It was at her home that Malai Kofta, a north Indian specialty, became firmly intertwined with my childhood memories of special-occasion food.

Each year, for Diwali, Akka would host a big dinner for the extended family. It was an occasion to look forward to, not just because you were guaranteed lots of fun without family histrionics (Akka was my Dad's eldest sister, something of a mother figure for everyone in the family, and no one dared raise a voice in her presence), but also because Akka was an extraordinarily gifted cook. You could be sure that you'd return home that night with a smile on your face, lots of happy new memories, and a bloated belly.

Akka's menu for that dinner varied each year, but one recipe you could count on her to make year after year because of the popularity it enjoyed in our family was her Malai Kofta curry.

This was a dazzling dish, with deep-fried, delicate balls of cheese floating in a subtly but expertly spiced creamy and orange-gold sauce. It tasted like nothing else we were used to eating at home, and it tasted extraordinarily good.

Koftas can be loosely described as meatballs, and they are often made with lamb or beef or chicken meat in India, although vegetarian versions are just as -- or perhaps more -- popular.

Koftas are not a concept native to India. Rather, like other popular Indian dishes like Biryani, Samosa, Gulab Jamun and Navratan Korma, which have heavy central Asian and Persian influences, koftas originated in the kitchens of the Mughals, Muslim invaders from central Asia who went on to rule a large part of northern India for nearly two centuries.

The Mughals were gone from India by the 19th century, but the food they popularized had already permeated and mingled with local north Indian cuisine, and it stayed put. Today, most of us can eat these dishes, including Malai Kofta, anywhere in the world there is a north Indian restaurant.

Unless you're vegan. That's because two key ingredients in a malai kofta are malai, or cream (although in this case what's actually used is khoya, a thick reduction of milk), and paneer, a cheese made with cow or buffalo milk, which pretty much puts any restaurant version out of our reach.

That's why, for you today, I have the most amazing vegan Malai Kofta curry recipe. Every bite of this decadent dish is packed with flavor and no one will even be able to tell this is vegan.

I had already shared this malai kofta with you more than a decade ago, and many of you have made it over the years and loved it. At the time I called it a "tofu kofta curry" because who knew about keywords and the terms people search for in those early days of blogging? I've since further improved on it, and modified the recipe to make it quicker, so bringing it back to the top. Hope you will continue to enjoy it and make it in your kitchens.

Tips for making the best vegan malai kofta

• Malai kofta, despite its name, usually doesn't contain malai or cream. You need the ingredients to not be fluid because they have to hold together in a ball firm enough to fry, so Indian cooks usually use khoya. To make khoya, milk is reduced until all of the liquid is gone and all that remains is the thick milk solids. Paneer and a small amount of potato is added into the khoya to make the kofta balls. For our vegan version, I sub the paneer with tofu, the khoya with cashews, and thank heavens a potato is vegan.
• This is a recipe designed for royalty, so the flavors here have to be just right -- not too spicy, not too overbearing, but delicate and voluptuous at the same time. So don't go overboard with the quantity of spices.
• You want all of the ingredients in the kofta balls to be really, really creamy while remaining solid, so the first rule is to make sure everything is broken down really fine without using any water. I grate the tofu and then give it a turn in the food processor to make sure it's as smooth as possible. I really recommend using super firm tofu or high protein tofu for this dish if possible. Extra firm tofu is not as desirable, but if it's your only option, make sure you drain out most of the water in it.
• You will need to process the raw cashews into a really fine powder, again without any water. The cashews help add richness to the kofta balls, the richness that the khoya would bring, so try not to skip them. But if you're nut-free, you can leave them out.
• You need a very small amount of potatoes in the kofta balls, because the potato is simply there to bind, not to be the main flavor. Too much potato will simply leave you with a dish of potato vadas floating in the curry, and that's not what you're going for. Use one medium potato, boiled and peeled, for this dish. You also don't need too much cornstarch or tapioca starch, depending on which one you're using. You want these balls to be creamy, not doughy, and the starch, like the potato, is just a binder.
• After adding the spices and cornstarch, the kofta balls should hold together firmly and shouldn't fall apart when you add them to the oil. Fry one ball first to make sure it holds, but if it doesn't, add more cornstarch and proceed.
• Koftas are often stuffed with a little surprise inside, like nuts or raisins. I added raisins because I like the bit of sweetness here, but if you want to add nuts, use chopped pistachios and/or cashews and you can certainly add both nuts and raisins.
• If deep frying scares you, you could put your kofta balls in an air fryer or the oven, but you won't get the same great crust or the flavor. My advise is to deep fry and eat in moderation. This is by no means an unhealthy recipe and it's filling, so I doubt you'll want to eat all of it at one go.
• The curry sauce that goes with the kofta is really simple to make, and it comes together quickly. You will need to process the sauce in the blender to make it really creamy, and then strain it for best results, although the straining is by no means mandatory.
• I like the sauce thick here, but you can thin it out to your liking and for an even smoother texture. Use water to thin it out.
• The creaminess of the sauce comes from cashews and pumpkin seeds, which are both traditionally used in India. These also take away the need to add any cream to the sauce. Unless you're nut-free and absolutely can't use cashews, I'd recommend not adding coconut milk to the sauce. That's because even when we veganize, we want to keep flavors as close as possible to the real thing. You've heard me say this before time and again, but here it is again: coconut milk and north Indian cuisine simply do not mix. Coconut is delicious in south Indian and western Indian food, where it is widely used, but it has too strong a flavor and it tends to obscure the true taste of North Indian dishes. Cashew cream, on the other hand, substitutes perfectly for cream in Mughlai food.

What to serve with vegan malai kofta

Malai kofta goes beautifully with an Indian tandoor bread, like a naan or roti.

You can also serve it with an easy Jeera Rice for a mindblowing meal. Serve a vegan raita on the side.

Ingredients for vegan malai kofta

For the kofta:

• Super firm tofu or high protein tofu
• Cashews
• Cornstarch or tapioca starch
• Potato
• Ginger
• Green chili peppers, like serrano or jalapeno
• Salt

For the creamy, spiced orange sauce:

• Green cardamom
• Cloves
• Cinnamon
• Onions
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Cayenne
• Turmeric
• Tomatoes
• Cashews
• Pumpkin seeds
• Garam masala
• Kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• Salt to taste

Looking for more Indian vegan restaurant-style recipes?

• Vegan Palak Paneer with Tofu
• Mushroom Matar, Mushrooms and Peas in a Creamy Sauce
• Malai Gobi, a creamy cauliflower curry
• Vegetable Biryani in 30 minutes
• Vegan Paneer Butter Masala