PANEER MUTTER MASALA / PANEER PEAS MASALA

                PANEER MUTTER MASALA / PANEER PEAS MASALA / PANEER RECIPES
                                  
                               When in season, I made optimum use of fresh green peas and froze a kilo for the summer months. Combined a small cup of peas with paneer and prepared a tomato based curry to go with rotis for our mid day meal. Matar Paneer, a culinary gem of North Indian origin, is a popular, simple to make and delectable creamy curry that is hard to resist.





BUTTER PANEER MUTTER MASALA

Ingredients

 

1. Paneer, cubed(frozen) - 1 cup

 

2. Peas, frozen - 3/4 cup

 

3. Tomatoes -2

 

4. curd - /4 cup

 

5. Green chillies - 3 nos

 

6. Ginger garlic paste - 1tspn

 

7. Red chilli powder - 1tspn

 

8. Dhaniya powder - 1tspn

 

9. Turmeric powder - 1tspn

 

10. Garam masala powder - 1tspn

 

11. coriander leaves - for garnashing

 

12. Lemon juice - 1tspn

 

13. salt - as needed

 

14. oil/ghee - 2 tspn

 

 

To Fry and grind to paste :

15. Onion - 2nos

 

16. Cinnamon - 1inch

17. Elachi/Cardamom - 1no

18. Cloves - 2nos

19. Jeera/Cumin seeds - 1tspn

20. Pepper - 10nos

Method :

 STEP : 1

                 Heat a pan with oil and add the cinnamon,elachi,cloves,pepper and lastly jeera, after  jeera splutters,add onion and fry till golden brown. Add the chilli,coriander and turmeric powder .

  



STEP 1

STEP : 2

 

                 Just give it a fry,take care not to burn it.Let it cool and grind it along with little water to a

smooth paste.

TO  GRIND

 STEP : 3

               

                        Microwave the peas for 2-3 minutes in high in a micorwave safe bowl. Stir in

between for even cooking. Set aside. We can also use vessels or cooker to boil.

 

               

 

 

 

 

STEP : 4                               

                       Boil water and add the frozen paneer,switch off the flame and keep covered till use. If you want you can shallow fry the paneer cubes until golden brown and again keep it immersed in hot water. Keeping immersed in hot water helps the paneer to staysoft. I usually dont fry the paneer,just add it to the boiling water and then add it to the gravy,which gives you a softer paneer. But this time I tried shallow frying.

     

 

STEP : 5

                           Again heat the oil in the pan and add the green chillies and the ginger garlic paste,fry for a minute,then add the ground paste. Fry for a minute or two.  

                                               

STEP : 6

                            Add the chopped tomatoes and required salt. Fry till oil oozes out (4-5 minutes) in medium flame.

                                                 

STEP : 7

                               Add the cooked peas. Add the well beaten curd and mix well.

                                                  

                                          

                                                       

 

 

 

STEP : 8

                              Add the paneer cubes and required water(1/2 cup), and simmer for 5-6
minutes. Add the garam masala powder.
 

STEP : 9
                                 Lastly garnish with the coriander leaves and add the lemon juice after you put off
the stove. Mix well. Serve with roti or Naan. This also suits with rice and dosa.

 NOTE :

                  1. Do not over fry the masala powders which will turn the gravy bitter.  

                  2. adding lemon juice is very important,so donot skip it,otherwise you have to                compromise on the taste!
                  3. You can add milk fully to make it gravy without adding any water. This way
    you get thicker and more creamier gravy. The colour mainly is because of this. If you add
    water, then the gravy may not be orange and will be more red.
                  4. Also the cashews give a thick texture, mild coloured gravy and also prevents     

milk/ cream from curding.  
                   5.  Add 1/2 tsp of pepper powder if you want more spicy.
                   6. You can omit red chilli powder and add 5 green chillies while you fry onion.
      This also tastes great.
                   7. If you dont have ginger garlic paste, then you can add 4 cloves of garlic and a
piece of ginger while you fry onion and grind it along.