November 19, 2005

Mattar Paneer Masala

We consume green peas a lot not just because it has got a supercharged nutritional profile but for its delicious flavor, wonderful texture, and eye-catching color. When we were children we used to hate green peas, but still remember how much care my mom and sister used to put in to make it more tastier than before :-) Thanks to mom and my sister - we now love this legume and it is a must have at least twice a week in different forms.

Here is one of our favorite recipes using green peas and home-made paneer - the mattar paneer masala.

Bringing ingredients together...

Mattar Paneer Masala Recipe

Ingredients:
Green peas – 1 cup
Sugar – a pinch
Paneer – 1 cup, cubed
Oil – 1+1 teaspoon
Ghee – 1+1 teaspoon
Cinnamon – 1 inch stick, broken into halves
Cloves – 3
Cardamom – 2
Cummin seeds – 1-1/2 teaspoon, whole
Black peppecorns – 8-10, whole
Onions – 2, medium size, finely sliced
Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon or to taste
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – ½ teaspoon
Ginger – ½-inch piece, finely chopped and crushed
Garlic – 3 cloves, finely chopped and crushed
Green chillies– 3, medicum size, medium hot, sliced into halves
Tomatoes – 2, medium size, finely chopped
Yogurt/Curd – 1/2 cup
Garam masala powder – 1 teaspoon
Cilantro leaves – chopped for garnishing
Lemon juice – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon or adjusted to taste

Method: Boil the green peas with a cupful of water and a pinch of sugar. Cook till tender and keep aside. We love home-made paneer and prepared it very closely as described by Jenn at Atabela, i.e., heat milk till reduced by 1/4th part, add the lemon juice or yogurt (we use lemon juice and found it is more tastier that way), to seperate the curd and whey, tie the curd in a muslin cloth, after the curd is out of moisture, flatten it and cut into paneer cubes. Thanks Jenn for the inspiration. Please see the picture above to see our results.

Heat a pan and pour in the first part of ghee and oil. When smoking hot, deep fry the paneer pieces in oil until light golden color, remove from heat and keep aside. In the same oil when very hot, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, cummin seeds, and finally onions. Saute until the onions are golden brown here and there. Add the coriander powder, red chilli powder, and turmeric powder. Saute for a minute taking care not to burn the dry masala powders. Remove from fire, allow it cool, and then grind the onion mixuture to a smooth and thick paste. Heat the remaining ghee and oil. Add ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Saute for 2 minutes. Add the ground onion paste and saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes and saute until the oil separates from it. Add the yogurt, cooked peas, paneer pieces and salt. Allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Add the garam masala mixture a minute before removing mattar paneer masala from the heat. Garnish with coriander leaves, lemon juice, and a dollop of salted butter on top. Serve hot with chappathis, pooris, bread, or plain white rice. Enjoy mattar paneer masala.

35 Comments:

Blogger Mika said...

That looks so tasty. One thing I have experienced when I use yogurt in gravies is that they split in a minute or so. Do you have any suggestions on avoiding it?

11/20/2005  
Blogger sailu said...

Let me first compliment you on our blog.Commenting for the first time on your blog ... your blog inspires me vkn...:)
I am going to try out a few recipes of yours and post the same with pics in my blog..:)
Todays recipes looks yummy..will try it and cottage cheese is healthy too.

11/20/2005  
Blogger rokh said...

looking delish. first i must make my paneer though, been in my to-do list for long.

11/20/2005  
Blogger Mika said...

Jenn- Thank you for clarifying my doubt. I am in fact planning to make matar paneer today, thanks to VKN's recipe and great snap.

11/21/2005  
Blogger Mika said...

I tried this last night with store bought paneer and it was wonderful. Thanks VKN!

11/22/2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was really delicious....i had this packet of paneer in my freezer and didnt know wat to do with it...came across ure recepie and im glad i tried it out...

3/29/2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i was searching for this recepie for a long time, thanxxx! i wouldn't thought that there should be onions in it (i thought Indians never use them...)... but, it's one of my fave meals! :)

1/21/2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there. I'm new to ur blog and just tried ur recipe.....it tasted as wonderful as it looks here. My husband LOVED it too. Thanx a ton.

2/21/2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi there

i have tried ur chicken fried rice recipe for many times and my husband and i love it like anything..........today is the day when my hubby proposed me last yr.............so its unofficialy my first wedding aniversery so thought of making some good for dinner tonight...........and wht better then some paneer recipe hena........i was just looking for matar paneer when found urs and i m sure ur recipe must be tht good so going to try it today..............thks a lot for one more delicious recipe.......looks really cool to me.......
sheetal

4/15/2008  
Blogger Unknown said...

I tried your matar panner masala today..it was delicious!very authentic.....i will definitely make this again.
Thanks for posting the recipe.

12/08/2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i'm not a very good cook so i was searching for this recipe when i came across ur blog.i followed every step mentioned n i must say d end result turned out 2 be very delicious.my boyfriend loved it so much,he could not believe i cooked it. m so grateful to u.i'll surely be checking this blog for more recipes again n again n again....

12/24/2008  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi, ur recipe is really yummy.when i fry the paneer it gets stuck to the botoom of kadai. can u suggest any remedy to prevent it from sticking.

1/08/2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tried this recipe tonight and it tasted good!! thanks a lot.... I love paneer butter masala and this one was quite simple to make. You have explained it very well...

2/12/2009  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Paneer mattar masala is different then Paneer butter masala. I think paneer mattar masala will contain more nutrients because of grean peas. Thanks for the nice recipe.

3/29/2009  
Anonymous DavidE said...

Thanks fir the recipe! I just tried it tonight and it worked out great for me, though I did go a little overboard with the chili powder - I've stopped sweating now :-). I'm going to make it on an upcoming rafting trip.

9/19/2009  
Blogger Harsh Verma said...

wow, that was delicious.. I loved the food I made :)
Thanks for the dish.

11/06/2009  
Blogger gtyuk said...

thank you for this delicious recipe (that I bookmarked months ago); I tried it out with some of my personal touches and it came out great, everybody at home enjoyed it!!!!

11/23/2009  
Blogger silverwhitewinter said...

Thanks for this recipe.I tried it last night.everyone loved it.although i omitted the garlic and the butter.i am going to make this again and again.thanks once again.

12/13/2009  
Blogger Manisha Malhotra said...

Nice post about paneer mutter masala. It looks yummy. Is paneer bhurji recipe also available. I want to add some more tips to my recipe.

12/27/2009  
Blogger SmudS said...

Mouthwatering...!!!
I never knew cooking was so easy and enjoyful. Today was a day off and was wondering how i could suprise my wife with my cooking skills, what do i do... search google and come acroos your blog. thanks for the wonderful recepie, made it within 45 mins. just waiting for the evening to set in. walla. thanks again.choa.

12/28/2009  
Blogger Preethi said...

Hi, I liked this recipe. It is interesting. Even I like to cook and also read about food. Just came across your blog while browsing the internet. I too have a food blog of my own http://preethiskitchensurprises.blogspot.com/
You might find some interesting recipes at my blog too.

2/10/2010  
Blogger Pavithra Ravi said...

wow..this receipe is just awesome..i tried and tastes really good...good work..thnks..

5/11/2010  
Blogger Apeksha said...

hey i made mattar paneer for the first time and used your recipe n it was wonderful!! thanks a lot! :)

5/27/2010  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Samy

Can I use cream?

2/17/2011  
Blogger Paromita said...

What is this Cilantro?

2/25/2011  
Blogger Chennaitian said...

Nice recipe. It turned out good.

8/07/2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a fantastic recipe. I made it recently for a group of friends and it got rave reviews. Making it again tonight for dinner. Have not tried all the recipes here, but I'm so happy to have them available. One of the truly great cuisines in the world.

8/10/2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear Blogger, Thanks for the delicious recipe. it came out very well thank you. I had used packaged paneer instead of a fresh one. I wondered whether you can suggest some way to remove the sourness from packagd paneer. Neways many thanks for the wonderful recipes!!

8/13/2011  
Blogger Priya Menon said...

It was awesome...Thanks a million VKN....

9/24/2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's good but it needs 8-20 cloves of garlic

11/02/2011  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Do you grind cinnamon, black pepper. Cardomam and all other spices with onion?

12/09/2011  
Anonymous Anshitha said...

It looks so delicious...My taste buds becomes so watery....

3/08/2012  
Anonymous Theory said...

cooked this last night, really delicious recipe, thanks !

1/25/2013  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome recipe! I just finished preparing it and came out fantastic.

1/28/2013  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It mst b awesum...mst hv to try dis...thnx jenn

3/08/2013  

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