Shaam Savera, Spinach Paneer Kofta Curry

          When I was checking on the web for some spinach paneer kofta recipe, I came across this dish Shaam Savera by chef Sanjeev Kapoor. I have never heard of this dish before, or might have seen on some menu card and totally forgot about it. More than the actual recipe, the pictures of this dish on the web actually made it look very tempting and I wanted to give it a try. When I saw that, the dish is basically spinach koftas stuffed with paneer and served with a rich tomato gravy, I knew immediately, that nothing can go wrong in this combination. It's not an everyday kind of dish, needs some time, so make and enjoy it with rotis, naans or pilafs, for a relaxed brunch or a special dinner..

Need To Have
For The Koftas

• Chopped Spinach - 2 cups, packed
• Grated Paneer - 1 cup
• Besan Flour/Bengal Gram Flour - 4 to 5 tablespoons
• Garam Masala - a pinch
• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 tablespoons
• Oil For Deep Frying

For The Gravy

• Tomatoes - 3 medium, chopped
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Garlic - 5 cloves. chopped
• Ginger - 1" piece, chopped
• Cinnamon - 1" stick
• Clove - 1
• Javitri - 1/4 
• Red Chilly Powder - 1+1/2 teaspoons
• Coriander Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Sugar - 1/2 teaspoon
• Kasuri Methi - 1 teaspoon, crushed
• Salt to taste
• Cream - 1-2 tablesppons

Original recipe here

Method

          First let's make the koftas, heat a little oil, add the chopped spinach and salt and saute it well, till it looses all the moisture, remove and cool.

          To the spinach, add the besan flour and mix, use as needed to make a mixture that can be rolled into balls, make the spinach balls and keep.

          Take the grated paneer, mix in the garam masala, divide into the same number of portions as the spinach mixture. I made 7 balls of the spinach and paneer. Take the all purpose flour in a plate and keep it ready. Now dusting your hands with the flour, flatten out the spinach ball, place the paneer ball inside and close it.

          Shape it back into a ball/kofta, roll it in the maida and keep.

          Heat some oil for deep frying, add the kofta balls, fry them to golden, remove and keep.

          Now, let's do the gravy part, heat a little oil, add the cinnamon, clove, cardamom and javitri, when the cardamom starts popping, add the ginger, garlic and onion and saute till the onions turn translucent, then add the tomatoes.

          Saute well till the tomatoes break down and you get a thick mixture. Cool it and blend it to a smooth paste, remove and keep.

          Again, heat some oil, add the paste and saute for a couple of minutes, then add the chilly and coriander powders, salt and about 1+1/2 cups of water, mix, bring it to a boil, then simmer it till the raw smell disappears and the mixture becomes like a thick gravy.

          Then add the sugar, kasuri methi and about a tablespoon of fresh cream, mix and remove. To serve, slice the kofta balls into half, pour some hot gravy in the serving plate, arrange the koftas, pour some more hot gravy, drizzle some fresh cream and enjoy.

Note
If you saute the spinach well, then you might need only 2 to 3 tablespoons of besan flour, the basic idea, is to get a mixture that can be rolled into balls, the more flour you add, the koftas will take longer to soak in the gravy.
I have used all purpose flour for rolling the kofta balls, since I didn't have corn flour that day.
Javitri is the orange flower like thing, you'll find them in the whole spices section in Indian grocery stores along with cinnamon, cloves and other spices.
You can just add the kofta balls to the hot tomato gravy and serve, but when you slice and serve it, they look more tempting.