Matar Paneer
Fresh peas in a spicy tomato based gravy and chunks of Indian cottage cheese – paneer.
Servings
4
Ready In:
40 min
Calories:
431
Good For:
Main meal
Introduction
About this Recipe
A very popular and famous northern Indian pure veg recipe. Rich and creamy; serve with a light vegetable or dal and, if you want carbs, and certainly more tradtional, serve with rice or chapatis.
Ingredients – Not native to India – the Tomato & the Cashew
If I had to make a guess, I would say this is
- Not ancient traditional India food.
- Developed, or at the very least, influenced by the Mughal Empire.
Tomatoes came to India by way of Portuguese explorers during the early 16th century, along with the cashew from Brazil. Neither of these are native to India and arrived around the same time as the reign of the Moghul Empire in India.
Nutrition
Another perfect meal for daily 20 hour intermittent fasting. A high feeling of satiation with high fats and moderate protein. One of my favorites. Pair it with a simple dal.
- Fat 61%
- Protein 21%
- Carbohydrates 18%
Matar Paneer
Equipment
- Large sauté pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Green Peas Fresh, and boiled a bit
- 2 tbsp Ghee, butter or a mixture of both
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Fresh ginger Grated
- 3 lg Tomatoes, about one cup
- 1/3 cup Raw Cashews
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Pink Himalayan salt Fresh ground
- 2 tbsp butter
- 250 grams Fresh Paneer, about 1.5 cups cubed Cubed
- 2 tbsp Fresh coriander leaves chopped
- 3 tbsp Fresh cream
- 1 tsp Kesoori methi (dried Fenugreek leaves) Crushed in you hands.
Instructions
- Shell the peas. Place in about 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the peas are soft. Depending on how late into the season, the peas in India can be real tough and require a bit of good boiling to soften them up. Strain and set aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp of ghee/butter in the pan. Add the cumins seeds and quickly fry til they sputter. Then add the fresh ginger, turmeric power, red chili powder, garam masala, salt and mix well. Add the chopped tomatoes and cashews. Add about 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer for 20 minute or so until the mixture is soft and blended.
- Cool the tomato mixture (if you can wait that long, I usually can't); add to a blender with another 1/2 cup of water and blend until smooth. Pour through a sieve to get a really smooth gravy. I do this with all my Indian gravies because I don't like to find tomato skins or chunks of ginger in the sauce.Set aside
- Another thing I always do when cooking with paneer - give it a quick saute in butter and usually chopped fresh coriander leaves. So, heat 2 tbsp of butter in a saute pan, add the copped paneer and chopped fresh coriander and saute on high for several minutes. The paneer becomes nice and soft.
- Return the tomato gravy back to a pan and heat. Add in the peas, cook for several minutes, add the fresh cream, then add in the sauteed paneer. Cook to heat, add crushed Kasoori Methi leaves and serve.
Nutrition
