Mattar Paneer
Mattar Paneer is a popular main course dish, made with green peas, paneer, and a creamy blend of spices.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 2 people
Ingredients
- 8 oz green peas, I am using frozen peas
- 3 tomatoes medium
- 1/3 lb paneer
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/8 tsp asafetida (hing)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
- 2 bay leaves (tajpat)
- 1 inch cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 2 cloves (long)
- 1 tbsp ginger chopped
- 3 tsp coriander powder (dhania)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric (haldi)
- 1 tsp paprika (dagi mirch)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp corn starch
Method
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Cube the paneer into half inch pieces and deep-fry them on medium high heat. Fry until the paneer becomes a light golden color. Take the paneer out and place on a paper towel so the extra oil is absorbed.
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Mix cornstarch with three tablespoons of water and keep aside.
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Blend the tomatoes and ginger to make a puree.
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Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil. If the cumin seed cracks right away, the oil is ready. Add the asafetida (hing), cumin seeds, bay leaves and cinnamon and stir-fry for a few seconds.
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Add the tomato paste, coriander, turmeric, chili powder and paprika. Cook until the mixture reduces to half.
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Add the green peas and 1/4 cup of water. cook on medium heat pan should be covered. When the peas are tender, add the salt and paneer.
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To thicken the gravy add corn starch mix. Cover the pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Suggestion:
Add 1 tablespoon fresh chopped fenugreek leaves or 1/2 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves to the gravy when cooking.
Hello Manjula
I have received very good reports from Indians about your recipes. The only suggestion I would like to offer is that I do not fry paneer as a result of which the dish becomes light. My Indian mother fries them but my aunt didn’t and after this suggestion even some of the restaurants I visited stopped frying paneer. Thanks Kind regards Chandra
thanks for the suggestion, I do both ways
This was absolutely wonderful! I’m going to make this again and again. Thank you for this recipe!!
Emmy, Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed
I made this for the first time today using your recipe and it is absolutely delicious. I made double the amount and will have it for lunch all week. Great recipe!
Nice and easy description for a wonderful recipe.
thank you
Hello Majula:
I have been following you for a long time. Today I was reviewing the mattar paneer recipe but I got confused. The recipe calls for 16 oz of peas but when you are demonstrating you say 8 oz. What should be the quantity of peas for 4 people?
Thank you for teaching us so much. My family loves indian food.
María
Maria, sorry I made few mistake in the recipe saying and writing, I will try make changes, I used 8oz peas, depends what else you are making otherwise it is good for 2 people.
Thank you for the post.