Paneer curries are absolute favorites in our home. This Restaurant Style Matar Paneer is one of them. This curry is made with a creamy onion-tomato curry sauce seasoned with the traditional Indian spices with added protein of Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer) cubes and boiled frozen peas. This curry is very easy to make with easily available ingredients. This works out perfect for delicious midweek meal with no extra fuss of dishes. Sounds great, isn't it?
Make this curry Vegan?
You can replace the Paneer with Tofu and the curry is absolutely vegan. A quick tip to add tofu in this curry. Use Extra Firm Tofu for this curry. Before cutting the tofu in cubes, lay it on a plate and place a heavy pan or some weight on it to take out all the extra water. Do this for about 15 mins. Cube the tofu and add it once the sauce is ready. Also, replace butter with oil or vegan butter.
Make this Curry ahead of time/ Freeze the curry for a Quick Fix Meal
Ofcourse, you can. I suggest to make the base curry ahead of time and refrigerate it, if you are using it the next day, if later than freeze it in an airtight container. Whenever you want to use the curry, boil the frozen peas in microwave for 2-3 minutes and cube the paneer/tofu pieces. Reheat the curry, add garam masala and kasuri methi and add the peas and paneer to the curry. If you froze the curry, dethaw the curry by living it the refrigerator over night,
How to Make Restaurant Style Matar Paneer Step by Step?
- In a heavy bottom sautรฉ pan, on a medium flame , add 1 tablespoon oil/butter. Let it heat. Add Dried Kashmiri Red Chillies and Roughly Chopped Onions. Sautรฉ them until light brown.
- To this add roughly chopped Tomatoes. Cook them until mushy. To this add salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and ยผth teaspoon garam masala. Cook all the spices for about 30 secs. If the Spices stick to the bottom of the pan and add about a tablespoon of water.
- Once the spices are cooked, add cashews and cook them for about 30-45 secs. I like to add cashews for smooth texture and good consistency. Let this mix cool completely.
- Add the mix to the blender jar once cooled. Pulse it until it turns into a smooth curry sauce. Keep it aside.
- In the same Sautรฉ pan, add 2 tbsp's of oil/butter. Once hot, add a bay leaf and a small cinnamon stick. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
- Once the cumin seeds splutter, add garlic-ginger- green chili paste. Sautรฉ it until cooked, but we don't want to brown it.
- Now add the curry sauce we prepared and ยฝ cup water. Mix it well. To this add ยฝ teaspoon garam masala and kasuri methi. Let it start to bubble.
- Add boiled peas and cubed paneer/tofu and give it a good mix. Cook until paneer/tofu is soft.
- Serve hot with Phulka/rotis (Indian Flatbread), Naan, Parathas, Jeera Rice or Plain Steamed Rice. I served it along with Ghee smeared Phulkas and side of Mint Spiced Indian Buttermilk.
Restaurant Style Matar Paneer/ Matar Tofu
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Ingredients
For the Curry Sauce
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil/ Butter/ Vegan Butter I used butter.
- 2 Dried Kashmiri Dried Red Chillies I suggest to use Kashmiri Dry Red Chillies as they give a beautiful color to the curry and are not spicy.
- 1 Medium Onion Roughly Chopped
- 1+ ยฝ Small Tomato Roughly Chopped
- 1 Tsp Red Chili Powder
- ยฝ Tsp Coriander Powder
- ยผ Tsp Turmeric Powder
- ยผ Tsp Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 7-8 Cashews
For Matar Paneer Curry
- 2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil/ Butter/ Vegan Butter I used Butter.
- 1 Dry Bay leaf
- 1 Small Cinnamon Stick
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 2 tablespoon Garlic-Ginger-Green Chili Paste 7-8 Garlic Cloves + ยฝ inch Ginger + 1 or 2 Green Chilies (Add green Chilies depending on the level of spicy taste you like)
- ยฝ Cup Water
- ยฝ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 2 Tsp's Kasuri Methi
- โ Cup Boiled Green Peas I used Frozen Green Peas. I wash the green peas and boil them quickly in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes.
- 250 grams Paneer/ Extra Firm Tofu
Instructions
For the Curry Base
- In a heavy bottom sautรฉ pan, on a medium flame , add 1 tablespoon oil/butter. Let it heat. Add Dried Kashmiri Red Chillies and Roughly Chopped Onions. Sautรฉ them until light brown.
- To this add roughly chopped Tomatoes. Cook them until mushy. To this add salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and ยผth teaspoon garam masala. Cook all the spices for about 30 secs. If the Spices stick to the bottom of the pan and add about a tablespoon of water.
- Once the spices are cooked, add cashews and cook them for about 30-45 secs. I like to add cashews for smooth texture and good consistency. Let this mix cool completely.
- Add the mix to the blender jar once cooled. Pulse it until it turns into a smooth curry sauce. Keep it aside.
For the Final Matar Paneer/ Matar Tofu Curry
- In the same Sautรฉ pan, add 2 tbsp's of oil/butter. Once hot, add a bay leaf and a small cinnamon stick. Add cumin seeds and let them splutter.
- Once the cumin seeds splutter, add garlic-ginger- green chili paste. Sautรฉ it until cooked, but we don't want to brown it.
- Now add the curry sauce we prepared and ยฝ cup water. Mix it well.
- To this add ยฝ teaspoon garam masala and kasuri methi. Let it start to bubble. Add boiled peas and cubed paneer/tofu and give it a good mix. Cook until paneer/tofu is soft.
- Serve hot with Phulka/rotis (Indian Flatbread), Naan, Parathas, Jeera Rice or Plain Steamed Rice. I served it along with Ghee smeared Phulkas and side of Mint Spiced Indian Buttermilk.
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