Another standard north Indian staple – Matar Paneer.
This simple curry with cottage cheese (paneer) and peas makes its way onto the menu fairly often. It is a quick meal, tastes good and is easy to make.
Many people think that both paneer and peas by themselves are quite bland. I don’t. They have their own specific flavours, which when combined with the basic ingredients and spices in this recipe, make this dish something that just says HOME. This with rotis takes me back to weekday lunches at home, after school. When we ate a lot, but ate it quick and then ran off to either watch cartoons or do homework. Simple and good.
Try it š
Matar Paneer
Ingredients
400g Paneer (Cottage Cheese) – diced into cubes2 cups peas – frozen or fresh (I use frozen)
1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
1 tsp coriander (dhania) seeds
1/2 tsp carom (ajwain) seeds
2 small onions
3 cloves of garlic
3/4 inch ginger
2 green chillies
3 medium tomatoes blitzed into puree
1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp dried mango (amchur) powder
1 tsp dried kasuri methi leaves
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
fresh coriander
Directions
- Blitz the onions, ginger, garlic and green chilli into a paste (don’t add any water)
- Heat oil in a pan, add cumin, coriander and carom seeds. Once they splutter add the onion paste and a pinch of salt to help it cook faster. Cook for about 5 minutes till the onions soften and caramelize
- Add turmeric powder, chilli powder and cook for 1 minute
- Add the tomato puree and a pinch of salt. Mix well and let it cook for about 10 minutes till the oil separates
- Add the garam masala, dried mango powder and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Add the peas and water, mix well. Cover and cook for 5-8 minutes till the peas get cooked and absorb the flavour.
- Add the cubed paneer, mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add kasuri methi, cook for a minute
- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with chapatis.
My Tuck Box 
true tradition
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Nice Matar paneer recipe
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