I am attempting to craft Malai Kofta but it calls for:
1 teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
Dassana's Veg Recipes
I cannot seem to find it anyplace near where I live. Would mustard seeds be similar enough?
Should I just remove this ingredient from the recipe?
I'd suggest a smaller amount of ground fenugreek seed, it will have a similar taste - it won't be identical, but will get you in the right area.
Mustard seed is definitely not even close.
If you don't have that, you might try a small amount of curry powder; it likely will contain fenugreek as part of the blend.
Fenugreek leaves and Mustard seeds have very different flavours. So they are not suitable substitutes for each other.
If the dried Fenugreek leaves are unavailable locally, even at shops aimed toward any local Asian community. Then you could always try getting them online. It's what I do. They do last quite a long time when you stored them in an airtight container, and out of sunlight. The other option you have is to buy frozen blocks of Fenugreek leaves... although, if you can't get the dried leaves, then you probably can't get them frozen either. The frozen blocks of leaves can be grated into dishes, or if you're careful, you can cut them or shave pieces off the block.
The second best thing you can do is to use some Fenugreek seeds. Either in their whole form or powdered. The key thing to know about the whole and powdered from of Fenugreek, is that you should put them into your dish at a different time to the frozen or dried leaves.
Fenugreek leaves are usually (but not always) added to a dish shortly before it has finished cooking. They're also sometimes added at the same time as the tomatoes. On a slight side note, when using dried leaves, I highly recommend heating them in a dry pan, shaking or stirring them so they don't burn, until they are warm but not hot... about 60c if you have a laser thermometer. Then you can rub them between your hands to crumbled them up, as you add them to the dish. I really think this helps release their flavour more than just just adding them without warming them in a pan first.
Back to Fenurgreek seeds / powder.
When cooking with most whole seeds or powdered spices in Asian cooking. They are usually added toward the beginning of the recipe. In the case of whole seeds, they are added to hot oil / fat, before any other vegetables, so that the fat can dissolve the fat soluble flavour compounds within the seeds. In the recipe you linked, this would be at step 12.
Powdered spices are usually added after the onions have been cooked, and either just before or just after the garlic and ginger paste has been cooked until it's raw smell dissipates. The powdered spices are then fried in the oil for thirty seconds or so, before you then add your next "wet" ingredient. By "wet" I mean any ingredient that will release enough water as it's cooked, to slow down or even stop the frying process. In the case of the recipe linked, this wet ingredient is the tomato puree at step 18 but it could also be the garlic and ginger paste or another chopped vegetable... basically anything wet enough to stop the powdered spices from burning. So if you use Fenugreek powder, add it to the dish in between steps 17 and 18.
There are a few important things to bare in mind about Fenugreek seeds and powder.
First of all, the seeds are very hard. They can be very difficult to grind by hand or in a spice grinder. As they're cooked though, they do soften significantly, to the point that you can comfortably eat... assuming you cook them properly. You also need to cook Fenugreek seeds and the powder for long enough so that it no longer tastes bitter. I mentioned frying the spices in oil or fat. This step is called the "Bhuna" (pronounced somewhere between boo-na and poo-na), and it's what helps cook out some of the bitterness. And it's what lets the spices release all their lovely flavours, so you end up with something that tastes like a "curry", rather than a tomato sauce with curry spices in it.
If you bhuna the spices properly, and then cook the dish for long enough. The bitterness won't be an issue but... use Fenugreek seeds and powder sparingly, because if you don't cook them properly, they can ruin a dish.
