There used to be one old Tamil Advertisement for 3 Roses tea. “Niram irundhal suvai ilai, suvai irundhal dhidam ilai” … Matar paneer kum tea kum enna sambandham nu yosikadheenga..🤣🤣 What I was trying to imply is nailing a paneer gravy recipe is sometimes difficult..If the consistency of the gravy is good the color wont be perfect, if the color is perfect the paneer might be rubbery and the list goes on 😉 Yesterday this Matar Paneer ticked all the right boxes and turned out as good as the ones served in restaurants. Though I couldnt click step by step pictures I wanted to share the recipe with you all immediately. Shall update the pictures soon.
Little A finally took nap and I managed to write down the recipe with all tinier details. Hope it helps. The following measurement serves 2. If you would like to prepare this for a larger batch of people kindly increase the quantities.
My Notes :
– If you cannot find Canned Tomatoes then substitute it with 4 fresh tomatoes along with a tbsp of Tomato Sauce. The sauce gives color & adds mild sweetness to the dish
– If you don’t have sauce then skip it and add chopped tomatoes alone
– MDH kitchen king masala gives that perfect restaurant style flavor to this gravy. If you don’t have this powder then substitute it by adding a tsp each of Amchur Powder, Cinnamon Powder, Cardamom Powder
– Milk & Cashews gives that richness to tge gravy. So adding cream is not required
– The most important step in this recipe is to let the gravy simmer until oil separates from pan
– Soak paneer in plain water for atleast 30-45 minutes. Drain and squeeze excess water, chop them into cubes and then use it. This step ensures paneer is not rubbery
– Be it any paneer related sidedish I always toss them in ghee with a pinch of salt for few minutes and then add it to the gravy. You could skip this step and directly add the paneer too
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30-35 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes (Soaking time for paneer) |
| Servings |
people
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- 200 gms Paneer
- 1/4 cup Frozen greenpeas
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp Chilli Powder
- 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
- 1/2 tsp MDH Kitchen King Masala
- 1 tbsp Kasuri Methi leaves
- 1/2 tbsp Oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 onion
- 1/2 Tin Canned Tomatoes approx 200gms. I used KTC brand
- 6 Cashews
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger and garlic pieces
- 1/2 tbsp ghee
Ingredients
For Gravy Base
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- Heat some ghee in a wok or a frying pan
- Add paneer cubes, a pinch of salt and saute them for few minutes. Remove from heat and keep it aside
- In the same pan add sliced onions, ginger garlic pieces and saute until onions become translucent
- Add canned tomatoes, turmeric and let it boil in medium flame for approximately 5 minutes
- Grind this onion tomato mixture along with cashews and milk to a smooth paste. Keep it aside
- Heat the same wok or pan, add 1tbsp oil, add the onion tomato paste
- Add 1/2 tsp Salt, chilli powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder
- Close the pan and let the mixture boil until oil starts leaving the pan. This will take approximately 10-12 minutes. Stir in between to prevent burning of the gravy
- At this stage add paneer cubes, frozen green peas, MDH kitchen king masala, 1/4 cup water
- Mix everything well, adjust salt and let the paneer gravy boil for another 2-3 minutes
- Add kasuri methi leaves, drizzle some ghee and serve it hot with Roti or Rice.
*PS
I updated the Matar Paneer recipe that was originally posted in 2011 with my latest recipe today (16-May-2018). The older one was a bit elaborate and time consuming . This is fairly simpler..