Mattar Paneer


Makes about 8 servings
Karthik's review: "More than Marvelous"
  • In a pan heat 1 tsp of oil and saute 6 cashews until lightly roasted
  • Add 1 and half big onion finely sliced and saute until they turn light brown
  • You may sprinkle very little salt as the onion is sauteed (Use very little as you will be adding a sauce that already has some salt in it)
  • Transfer the contents to a blender
  • When it cools down a bit, blend it into a smooth paste and set aside
  • In the same pan add 1 tsp of oil and add 1tsp of cumin seeds
  • When the seeds splutter add 1tbsp of ginger-garlic paste and saute well
  • Add 1.5 cups of Tomato sauce (I use Ragu chunky onion garlic pasta sauce) and saute until the raw smell goes away. The sauce may have salt so taste the gravy before adding any more salt
  • You can substitute the sauce with fresh Tomatoes (4 big ripe ones) finely chopped. If adding these, saute them along with the onions, ginger-garlic paste and blend everything together
  • Add the blended onion mixture to the tomato paste and stir well
  • Add a pinch of turmeric, 0.5tsp of chilly powder, 1tsp of coriander powder, 1tsp of cumin powder and mix well
  • Add 2.5 cups of water and cover and cook on low flame for about 15 mins
  • While the sauce gets cooked, shallow fry about 15 tofu cubes in little oil until the sides turn light brown
  • Use extra firm tofu for better taste
  • Traditionally Paneer is used, but I go with Tofu for obvious health concerns. I know, I know..I should have called this dish Mattar Tofu ;)
  • Add 1tsp of kasoori methi leaves (rub them to make a fine powder)
  • Stir well and cover and cook for another 5 mins
  • Add 2cups of frozen matar (peas) and the fried tofus to the sauce
  • Cover and cook for another 10 mins on very low flame
  • Optional: You can add 3 tbsp of cream to make it more richer and creamy & simmer for another 5 mins.( I dont) even without cream this recipe will yield a restaurant standard creamy gravy. :)
  • Mix carefully without breaking the tofu pieces and garnish with cilantro
  • Serve hot with Roti or Naan or Chapathi
  • You can also do a slight variation and do a Vegetable Gravy with the same base

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