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Matar paneer recipe, a tasty side dish prepared with Indian cottage cheese and green peas in a tangy yogurt and tomato based gravy.
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- About
- Ingredients
- Top tip
- My notes
- Storing
- Related posts
- Recipe card
- Stepwise photos
- Prepare gravy
About
Matar paneer has Indian cottage cheese and green peas (matar) as main ingredients.
I tried this recipe after I tasted this at my friend Sangeeta’s place. She makes absolutely delicious dishes, especially North Indian food.
In my initial stages of cooking, she is the one who taught me so much by sharing the recipes as well as best admirer and critic of my food.
When I visited her once, she made this for me. Loved it very much and asked her the recipe for it. Prepare whenever I get bored of the paneer butter masala.
This is sure a nice variation from the usual cashew gravy. With lemon juice and garam masala added at the end, this has a unique taste, flavor with a nice twist.
The recipe where my friend sangeeta referred wasMy Dhabha mutter paneer masala. So do try this Punjabi Dhaba style matar gravy.
Ingredients
Cottage cheese - Paneer is Indian style cottage cheese, prepared freshly in most of the households. Now a days, equally quality is available both in fresh form and frozen form.
So you can use fresh or frozen cubes in this recipe.
Green peas - Fresh matar is available in winter, so you can prepare with it when you get it. Otherwise you can freeze the fresh matar and use through out the year.
I use store bought frozen matar available in stores too.
Top tip
The highlight of this recipe is the spices we use in this. Freshly roasted black pepper, cinnamon and cumin along with other whole spices smells, tastes just amazing in this.
Also I find adding garam masala towards the end is also a great tip for perfect flavor.
Roasting paneer golden gives a lovely look to the matar gravy. Just make sure not to overcook it. Keep it immersed in hot water until adding to the gravy, only at the end.
My notes
- Slowly roast the ingredients in low flame or medium flame. Burning it will end up in bitter gravy.
- Make sure to beat the curd smoothly before adding, otherwise it may not look pleasant.
- You can also use cream/ sour cream for richer results.
Storing
Mutter paneer freezes well upto 3 months. Divide and store prepared matar gravy after cooling completely. Thaw and reheat before using.
Leftover can be used upto 2 days in fridge. If kept as soon as you prepare and cool down, then upto 5 days in fridge.
Related posts
- Paneer butter masala
- Shahi paneer
- Palak paneer
Recipe card
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5 from 11 votes
Matar paneer recipe
Matar paneer recipe, mutter paneer is an Indian gravy side dish for Indian flat breads such as naan, roti, parathas. It has paneer and green peas as main ingredients.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes minutes
Author Raks Anand
Servings 4
Cup measurements
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Matar Green peas
- 1 & ½ cups Paneer cubed
- 2 Tomatoes
- ¼ cup Curd
- 3 Green chillies
- 1 teaspoon Ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon Garam masala powder
- Coriander leaves For garnishing
- 1 Lemon's juice
- 2 tablespoon Oil or Ghee
- Salt
To Fry and grind to paste
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 Onion sliced
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 1 cardamom
- 1 cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 10 Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
Instructions
Heat a pan with oil and add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and lastly cumin seeds, after it splutters, add onion and fry till golden brown. Add the chilli,coriander and turmeric powder .
Just give it a quick stir ,take care not to burn it.Let it cool and grind it along with little water to a smooth paste.
To cook matar:
Microwave the (Matar) peas for 2 minutes in high in a microwave safe bowl. Stir in between for even cooking. If frozen, no need to add water. If fresh add 2 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon water while cooking.
Boil water briskly. Add paneer and boil again for 3-4 mins. Set aside.
Boil water and add the frozen paneer, switch off the flame and keep covered till use. If you want you can shallow fry the paneer cubes until golden brown and again keep it immersed in hot water. Keeping immersed in hot water helps the paneer to stay soft. I usually don't fry the paneer,just add it to the boiling water and then add it to the gravy,which gives you a softer paneer. But this time I tried shallow frying.
Add oil in the pan and add slit green chillies and ginger garlic paste, fry for a minute, then add the ground paste. Fry for a minute or two.
Add the chopped tomatoes and required salt. Fry till oil oozes out (4-5 minutes) in medium flame. (Video has slightly different steps, both ways good)
Add the cooked peas. Add the well beaten curd and mix well. If you do not beat the curd, the gravy won't looks smooth.
Add the paneer cubes and required water(½ cup), and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Add the garam masala powder.
Lastly garnish with the coriander leaves and add the lemon juice after you put off the stove. Mix well.
Video
Notes
- Do not over fry the masala powders which will turn the gravy bitter.
- Adding lemon juice is very important,so do not skip it, otherwise you have to compromise on the taste!
- Do not over squeeze lemon or crush seeds which makes gravy bitter.
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Stepwise photos
Preparing masala paste
1. Firstly, heat a pan with oil and add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper and lastly cumin seeds, after it splutters, add onion.
2. Furthermore, fry till golden brown. Add the chilli, coriander and turmeric powder .
3. Just give it a quick stir ,take care not to burn it.
4. Let it cool and grind it along with little water to a smooth paste.
Cooking matar
1. Microwave the matar for 2-3 minutes in high in a microwave safe bowl.
2. Stir in between for even cooking and set aside. You can apparently boil the mutter too.
Prepare gravy
1. Boil water and add the frozen paneer, switch off the flame and keep covered till use.
2. If you want you can shallow fry the cubes until golden brown in a pan and again keep it immersed in hot water.
3. Keeping immersed in hot water helps the paneer to stay soft. I usually don't fry , just add it to the boiling water and then add it to the gravy, which gives you a softer results. But this time I tried shallow frying.
Prepare matar paneer
1. Add oil in the pan and add slit green chillies and ginger garlic paste, fry for a minute.
2. Then add the ground paste and fry for a two minutes.
3. After that, add the chopped tomatoes and required salt.
4. Fry till oil oozes out (4 minutes approx. ) in medium flame.
5. Add the cooked matar.
6. Add the well beaten curd and mix well. If you do not beat the curd, the gravy won't looks smooth.
6. Add the paneer cubes and required water(½ cup), and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
7. Finally, add the garam masala powder. Then garnish with the coriander leaves and add the lemon juice after you put off the stove. Mix well.
Serve matar paneer with roti or Naan.
