Thursday, January 7, 2010

Matar/Mutter Paneer

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Hubby is a very big fan of paneer,so he insists me to prepare paneer dishes very frequently at home.Paneer in any form either in curries,rolls,gravies,pulao's,stir-fries,tikka's,soup's,salad's,sweets,paratha's or simple fried panner is very much loved by both of us and ofcourse who says NO to this yummy vegetarian delight.These days I have reduced using paneer at home because of its high calories,but including paneer in our diet regularly helps in attaining some essential proteins which vegetarians do not get in other food stuff.You can make this dish very creamy or low-cal curry according to your necessity.Matar paneer is a classic recipe and always turns out good even when no cream or nut paste is added to the gravy as the paneer itself gives nice taste to the curry.

Ingredients:

250 gms Homemade Paneer (or store bought),cut into 1" thickness pieces
3/4 cup fresh/frozen green peas,boiled
3 medium ripen tomatoes
2 medium onions,sliced
1" ginger,chopped
4-5 garlic pods,chopped
12-15 cashew nuts or 1/4 cup water melon seeds
1/4 cup fresh cream
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
a pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 1/2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp kasuri methi
1/2 tsp jeera
salt to taste
a pinch of sugar
2 tsp oil,oil for deep frying
1 tsp butter


Method:
  • Deep fry paneer pieces until light golden brown in color,drain them and immediately drop them in a bowl of water until its usage.This process will keep the paneer pieces soft.(Here,I did not deep fry the pieces,instead I fried them on both sides in a tawa applying a bit of oil on both sides and then soaked them in water)
  • Make a cross on tomatoes and blanch them in hot water for 3-4 mins.Remove the skin and chop them roughly.
  • Blanch the cashew nuts in the same hot water for a couple of minutes and remove them.
  • Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and fry ginger and garlic pieces until slight brown,add sliced onions and fry until it is brown in color.Add a pinch of sugar while frying onion,it speeds up the caramelize process of onion.Let this mixture cool a bit.
  • Grind the onion mixture and chopped tomatoes into a very fine paste adding water if required.
  • Grind the cashews also to a very fine paste using the same water in which it is soaked.
  • Heat 1 tsp of oil in the same pan and crackle jeera and then add the pureed onion-tomato mixture into it and add coriander powder,jeera powder,turmeric,enough salt and let it come to a boil.
  • Add the finely ground cashew mixture and mix well,let it cook for a couple of minutes.Add more water to get the right consistency.
  • Now add paneer pieces,boiled green peas,tomato ketchup,red chili powder,garam masala and kasuri methi(slightly roast it on pan and crush it with your hand before adding) to it and mix well.
  • Stir in fresh cream and let it come to a boil on low heat and turn off the flame.( Here I did not add cream to the gravy)
  • Add butter to it and garnish with coriander.Adding butter atthe end will enhance the taste.
Serve it hot with Roti's/Paratha's/Naan/Kulcha/Jeera chawal/pulao.

Note:
  • I added watermelon seed paste instead of cashew paste as the fat content in water melon seeds is lesser than the cashew nuts.More over the taste provided by water melon paste to the gravy is better than the cashew nut paste,it gives a particular dhaba style gravy.
  • You can avoid cream in the above recipe and add little milk instead or completely avoid it for low-fat version.

Check out other Paneer recipes in my blog:

37 comments:

lubnakarim06 said...

Wow...looks extremely yummy...never tried watermelon seed paste.....must have given the creamy taste to the recipe....

Sushma Mallya said...

This is one of my fav gravies,though i havent done it before,mom used to do it for me for my bday...i use melon seeds for palak paneer but not for this gravy, surely sounds good and looks delicious and lovely as always...

Tina said...

Soooo creamy and superb dish...

Nandinis food said...

Creamy and tasty matar panner! Nice variation by adding water melon seed paste.

Unknown said...

looks yumm and nice colour...is watermelon seeds called magaz by the way?

Deepa G Joshi said...

Fantastic...it looks so nice and creamy..yummy...

www.foodlyrics.com

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a fantastic idea of using watermelon seed paste, delicious twist Prathy..Am inviting myself to ur place to enjoy this droolworthy dish...makes me hungry..

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious recipe dear...nice picture

SE said...

very very tempting...nice picture.

Mangala Bhat said...

very creamy and rich curry! Looks great!
hey visit me whenever u get the time!

Preeti Kashyap said...

Looks lovely dear! my all time restaurant fav!

Unknown said...

Looks very delicious, watermelon seed paste is truely very new to me.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Looks so yummy prathi .. Me too add watermelon paste to many gravys. Yes as you said it gives yummy taste too.

prasu said...

oh my dear........the curry is looks so creamy and rich ...thanks for sharing.

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Pithugupappu is the second option which I specified .. we too love it. Will post it soon.

Finla said...

I want to take a huge piece of roti and scoop wp that delcious curry. Drool.

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow, that looks rich & creamy

Anonymous said...

cant help but drool lookin at that bowl. sigh

Shri said...

Looks awesome, Prathibha!
And I bought brinjals to try your Onion stuffed eggplants..I was drooling all over..Will try it over the weekend..Can' wait!

Unknown said...

Slurp!!!
What a delicious recipe!! Sure a must try for paneer lovers! Lovely presentation dear!

Preety said...

the gravy looks amazing, will try your method next time..

Cham said...

U re right when u re veg u need so calci and protein! That looks very delectable!

Uma said...

love it..love it..love it..Yummy :)

San!!! said...

Definitely enticing dish prathy,wish i could have some roti right away n taste that classic mutter paneer.

San!!! said...

Informative note n i also substitute cream with milk.

chakhlere said...

OH my my!! What a gorgeous curry. It looks perfect... i am just drooling here.

Sarah Naveen said...

Curry looks so yummyyy...I wanna dig in it with some roti...

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Mutter paneer looks tantalizing Prathy, my all time favorite:)

Aps Kitchen said...

M sure melon seeds act just like some almond or cashew paste....luks yummm

Perspectivemedley said...

the gravy looks yummy and delicious :).. niceeee :), thanks for dropping by :)

Anu Nandu said...

Prathiba,

Looks delicious like everyone has said here. I'm sure the watermelon seeds are healthier than the cashewnuts..I want to have just this as a meal!

Rachana said...

Dear Prathy,
The curry looks yummy and delicious:)
Thanks for dropping by. Looking forward to yr recipes:)

Cheers,
Rachana
rachanakothari.blogspot.com

Sunitha said...

Sounds like a rich and flavorful dish to serve an elegant party..thanks for sharing

Renus Kitchen said...

this is my all time favorite dish...nice idea of adding melon seeds !

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

looks super delicious!! next time i will try your recipe.

Anonymous said...

Awesome recipe ! I tried yr recipe. Did not add tomato ketchup . Substitute cream with fresh milk n added ghee instead of butter ! Thanks to u, my hubby who is currently in Australia gives thumbs up! Thanks dear:)

Cheers
Lalitha (Singapore)

Heena said...

Hi P,
This turned out exactly how it is looking here. I read this and instantly ran into the kitchen to use the Paneer that had come accidently with the week's grocery.
Thank you. You are a blessing for a person like me who loves to eat but cannot cook great food.
Would love to hear from you and your experiences some day.

Take Care
HTL

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Hugs,
Prathy

 
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