Matar Paneer Recipe-Paneer Recipes

Matar paneer(in Hindi) / Green peas cottage cheese gravy(in English) is a classic Punjabi style masala gravy that is served as a side dish for Roti, Naan, Kulcha & Pulao varieties.I have been making it for years following the recipe of”My dhaba”. Recently I came across this low fat restaurant style recipe in “Saffron Trail” blog.I combined both the recipes & came up with this version.I prepared it for Sendhil & Raksha’s lunch box and packed with chapathi.It came out very well.As it is a low fat version,I have not fried the paneer pieces or used fresh cream here.I loved this gravy a lot.I am sure you will like it too.Do give a try.Lets see how to make this yummy Paneer recipe – Mutter Paneer Masala.

Matar Paneer Recipe

Punjabi Matar paneer recipe – Side dish for roti,naan,kulcha & pulao

Cuisine: North Indian

Category: Side dish

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Paneer/Cottage cheese – 100 gms ( 1/2 cup)
Green peas – a handful
Big onion – 2 nos
Green chilli – 1 no ( slit)
Tomato – 3 nos
Cashews – 5 nos
Whole garam masala-(Cinnamon – 1 small,Cloves – 1 no,Cardamom – 1 small )
Ginger – 1 inch
Garlic – 5 cloves
Red chilli powder – 1.5 to 2 tsp
Dhania powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
Salt & water – as needed
Curd – 2 tbsp
Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera – 1/2 tsp
Sugar – 1/8 tsp
Kasoori methi – 1/2 tsp ( crushed)

METHOD

Boil a cup of water and immerse the paneer pieces till use.Make sure the water is not too hot.Cook the peas in required water.If you are using dried peas,soak it overnight and then pressure cook it before adding to the gravy.Chop the onions & tomatoes.Peel garlic & chop ginger.

Heat 2 tsp of oil and saute the cashews,ginger,garlic,whole garam masala like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom ,onions & tomato pieces. Saute everything until tomato turns mushy.Cool & grind them to a smooth paste adding enough water. ( If you wish, you can add red chilli powder, dhania powder and garam masala powder along with tomato while sauting. But make sure you don’t burn the spice powders.) I added all the spice powders in the next step.

Now heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds, saute slit green chilli.Add the ground paste.Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, dhania powder & saute until the paste turns thick.Add the boiled peas.Add some water and let the gravy boil till it leaves oil.

Lastly add the paneer pieces,sugar , curd & crushed kasoori methi. Boil for a minute & switch off the flame. Do not make the gravy too thick because this gravy thickens over time.So make it semi thick.Serve with roti/naan/kulcha ! Enjoy !

Note

You can skip the whole garam masala while sauting onion,tomato if you don’t want spices to be dominant.It tastes good in either ways.
Add more chilli powder to make a spicy gravy.I used medium spice here.
You can add fresh cream at the end to make this gravy more rich.You can also fry the paneer pieces in little oil till golden brown and add to the gravy.

Yummy & colorful Matar paneer is ready to serve with roti !Enjoy !