Start by heating a pot / saucepan on the stovetop.
Add butter or ghee, chopped onions, along with minced ginger and garlic (or ginger-garlic paste).
Sauté until the onions are translucent. Don’t brown the onions, as this will alter the color of the sauce.
Add the chopped tomatoes (or tinned tomatoes) and cook until the tomatoes start to turn soft.
Add the cashews, followed by the spice powders and mix well. Add half a cup of water and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Crush the kasuri methi leaves in your palm and add them, followed by garam masala. Cook for a couple of minutes more and turn off the heat.
Let the mixture cool down completely and blend in a blender until smooth.
Using a fine mesh sieve, sieve the blended mixture back into the same pot, and add honey, cream and salt to season. Simmer for 5 minutes on low heat.
The sauce is now ready and can be kept aside for later.
Prepare the koftas
To prepare the koftas, cut the potatoes into half and cook them in water on a saucepan on the stovetop until they are fork-tender (around 20 minutes on stovetop). For Instant Pot users, Pressure Cook the potatoes for 5 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of natural release.
Make sure that the potatoes cool completely before using. Once they are cooled, peel and mash or grate the potatoes.
In a large mixing bowl, grate the paneer. To this add mashed or grated potatoes, followed by corn starch, salt, and pepper powder. Mix well to form a smooth mixture with as few lumps as possible.
To shape the koftas - take a little mixture in your palm, form lemon-sized balls of the mixture and make a hole in the center. Stuff the center with the dried fruit and nut mixture and shape into a ball.
Deep Fried Kofta
Dust the balls in cornstarch and dust-off excess cornstarch.
Deep fry the kofta balls in oil - make sure the oil is hot before you add the koftas - if you add the koftas to oil that isn't very hot, they could break apart. Fry the koftas evenly. After they turn golden-brown, keep them aside on a kitchen towel.
Air Fryer Kofta
If air-frying, add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the kofta mixture before shaping them. Roll out the balls as instructed above.
Place the koftas in the air fryer basket and air fry at 350 F for 10 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 400 F and air fry for 5 minutes. The koftas will be golden brown and perfectly cooked.
Assemble the Malai Kofta
To serve the koftas, place the koftas in a bowl, spoon over the sauce on top. I recommend this over the more popular method of simmering the koftas in the sauce before serving. By plating the koftas, and adding the sauce over them, the koftas will not break.
Notes
Make sure that the paneer and potatoes are grated or mashed well, and that there is no moisture in the mixture. The potatoes should be cooled before you grate them.
Using a little cornflour as the binding agent helps in preventing the koftas from breaking. Do not add too much - just add enough to make the mixture come together.
Adding 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the kofta mixture will help the koftas stay spongy and soft especially when air-frying them