Matar/Mutter Paneer

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:

• Kadai Paneer - Restaurant style 
• Paneer Butter Masala - Restaurant style!!
• Paneer Modak Peda
• Paneer Tikka 
• Paneer Bhurji
• Paneer Jalfrezi
• Paneer Sabzi | Simple Paneer Curry
• Palak Paneer
• Paneer Makhani/Paneer Makhanwala
• Grilled Corn-Palak Paneer | Makai Palak Paneer