Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Paneer mattar masala

Paneer mattar masala is a curry with Indian cottage cheese and green peas. Paneer means Indian cheese and mattar stands for green peas. This is a lesser spicy curry of Indian vegetarian cuisine. Most common among North Indians and admired by all.

Long back I tasted it in 'DATA udipi hotel' in Nesapakkam, chennai along with parotta for the first time. After that, that restaurant became a regular for us while in that location. Eating out was not a common thing in my birthplace and so after marriage , Xav took me to many restaurants of Chennai. Even though not a big restaurant, it was the first that comforted me with chole poori and relieved my home sick feeling after marriage. They used to sell a kind of sweetened betel leaf named 'paan' and it was a lot of fun for me to take a piece of paan while going home. I have heard that those paan may spoil the teeth . So ask the pan maker to carefully prepare it without any lime (sunnambu) , otherwise we may end up with red mouth:)

Recently one day I prepared this curry for Xav's lunch along with chapathi and some curd rice. We absolutely love this dish with 'Indian store bought' frozen parotta too and remembered those great days.



Ingredients:
Paneer -100 gm (chopped 2 handful)
green peas (fresh / frozen) - 1 cup

For masala to grind:
oil - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 2
onion - 1 (big)
ginger - 2 inch
garlic - 5 cloves
cashew - 5
cinnamon - 2 inch


others:
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
garam masala powder - 1 tbsp
coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - 1/8 tsp
salt - to taste
cilantro - a handful
dried methi leaves  - 1 tbsp
butter - 1  tbsp
cumin - 1 tsp

Method:
Heat oil in a wok. Chop the paneer into 1 inch size cubes. (Fry the chopped paneer till golden brown and keep aside - Optional).

Then fry the cashews, cinnamon, onion and fry till it becomes golden brown. Also add ginger garlic and fry for 1 minute. Let everything cool.

Cook tomato with 1 cup water till mushy. (I microwaved it for 3 minutes). Let it cool.

Grind the onion, cashew, spices, tomato together into a fine paste along with the water from cooked tomato.

Heat the wok and fry a bay leaf, cumin .

Add the ground paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masal powder, salt and bring it to a boil. Then add the green peas and cook completely. Reduce flame and cook covered for 10 minutes.

As the raw smell vanishes and oil starts showing up add the fried / chopped paneer and mix well.
Keep it in low flame for 5 minutes and switch off.

Garnish with finely chopped cilantro and kasuri methi.

Paneer mattar masala is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with chapati or paratha.

Note:
No need to fry the paneer. It is optional only.
If needed add a tbsp of brown sugar to increase the taste.
I add one cooked potato to this dish to give more thickness to the curry.

35 comments:

Nithu Bala said...

Hey Viki, this is yummy dish..I too remember that hotel:-) Thanks for sharing this recipe..Do send in your entries for my event Dear..

Soma Pradhan said...

I love this recipe aa lot..I like to have them with Puris

Sailaja Damodaran said...

yummy with roti.....

Priya dharshini said...

When u exposed to many restaurants,u get know many new dishes,like u got in ur blog..paneer mattar masala is my fav and urs luks delicious and spicy..

Saraswathy Balakrishnan said...

I just love tis combination and would be perfect if paired up with some buttered naan or even variety rices like curd or lemon rice

Shama Nagarajan said...

yummy recipe...tempting picture dear

Anu said...

Yummy and tempting dear.. Will try soon..

Yasmeen said...

One of my favorite side dishes :D

Sarah Naveen said...

nice recipe...Looks fantastic and yummy!!

Justin said...

i wish it wasn't so hard for me to get paneer near where i live, because this looks great. this one market used to carry it sometimes, but not anymore... grrr.

Devasena Hariharan said...

Will try out that hotel :-). but dont know where is nesapakkam..

I'm kind of afraid of bedas, my hubby likes them..I have feel that they make the mouth numb and tasteless...

San!!! said...

Paneer mutter masala hmmm love it's combo with poori n rotis even with rice.They make a great masala n always delicious.

Gomathy S said...

A very tempting recipe with the click

Malar Gandhi said...

Wonderful paneer mattar masala, perfect with roits:) like paneer in any form, this sounds great:)

Rachana said...

A very delicious recipe...goes really well some naan:)

Priya Suresh said...

Slurppp, thats my favourite paneer mattar, looks yumm!

Cicily Antony said...

one of my favrite side dish for chappathi...yummy

Hamaree Rasoi said...

Ahhh I would love to have this delicious paneer mattar with butter naan...Looks fantastic!!
Deepa

Neetz said...

woww... this looks good with roti :)

Aruna Manikandan said...

My all time favorite..
Love to have with chapathi's

Ash said...

Very creamy & soft...I would simply love with rotis or paratas..... Oh!!!! Lovely dinner.....

Ash.....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

Tina said...

Perfect with naan...Looks yummy yummy...

Urmi said...

Paneer masala looks spicy,yummy and delicious. Nice click.

Siddhi Shirsat said...

wow nice paneer mutter masala viki...delicious one

Gita Jaishankar said...

It is always nice to remember good old days dear :) I tasted this dish only after I got married and my co-sister prepared this one day...I too make it often although these days I make this with tofu since my hubby likes it with tofu. Your looks superb with parottas..yum :)

Padma said...

Looks Mouthwatering. Perfect side dish for Naan or Chapthi's.

Jaleela Kamal said...

blog jaleela and arusuvai jaleela both are same..

check this post

http://allinalljaleela.blogspot.com/2010/03/blog-post_23.html

i given the link

(sweet and sour bitter guard in arusuvai)

Panchpakwan said...

Wow looks very yumm..

A gupta said...

Hi Viki,
Great receipe.

try adding the fried paneer to water once cooled.And add the panner to the gravy after squeezing water.Removed excess oil and paneer plumps up too.

Thanks

Vikis Kitchen said...

Thank you friends.
Thanks Mr.Gupta. I will definitely try your tip next time.

Srividhya Ravikumar said...

Haii viki, lovely dish. pls visit my site vidhya-ravikumar.blogspot.com

Sashi said...

I'm in if anything prepared with Paneer !! delicious !!

lakshmi priya said...

Hi Vikki !

Mutter Paneer Came too Good ! :D

lakshmi priya said...

Hi Vikki !

Mutter Paneer Came too Good ! :D

Vikis Kitchen said...

Lakshmi Priya: Thanks Priya dear. I am also very lucky and happy to taste the panner masala you tried. You have done it perfectly. Thanks for sharing ! Love , Viki

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