Punjabi Matar Paneer Recipe – Peas and Paneer Curry

✨Why you'll love this recipe?

• Simple ingredients - make yourself a batch of homemade paneer or buy it at a local store and grab your favorite Indian spices and rest of the ingredients are probably already in your refrigerator.
• Easy recipe - once you pull together all the ingredients, it comes together rather easily and is fuss-free.
• Leftovers - the leftovers taste incredible as the flavors deepen as the curry sits.

📋Recipe Ingredients

• Paneer - I use homemade paneer which is made with just two ingredients. You can easily buy paneer in the freezer aisle at most American grocery stores, and all Indian grocery stores also carry it.
• Peas - I have used frozen peas in this recipe because they are readily available. But if you live in India or other places where fresh peas are abundant (especially during winters), please use them. You can proceed with the recipe as is with fresh peas.
• Spices - all my favorite and the very basic spices in my masala dabba - cumin seeds, turmeric, cayenne, coriander powder, and garam masala.
• Aromatics - onion (you can use red or white onion), ginger, garlic (or use ginger garlic paste), tomato, cilantro, and green chili (optional). These veggies will form the base of the flavor profile along with the spices.
• Fresh Cilantro - or coriander (aka as dhania/dhaniya) is an absolute must for this recipe. But if it tastes like soap to you, simply skip it.

Don't forget to check out the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients along with the quantities.

👩‍🍳Steps to make this recipe

If you are using frozen paneer, plan ahead. You can either thaw it overnight or 6-8 hours in the refrigerator or thaw it using hot water. Cut into cubes after thawing. I cube a batch of my homemade paneer, cube it, flash freeze it, and store in freezer safe bags or containers. Cubed frozen paneer can be used directly in this recipe without thawing.

Step 1: Take all your aromatics except cilantro (onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, and serrano) in a blender jar (Image 1) and blend until pureed or smooth. This is the base of “masala” for our mutter paneer.

Step 2: Heat a heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven on medium-high heat and add oil. Once the oil shimmers, add the cumin seeds. Wait until the cumin seeds start dancing around in the hot oil, then add your prepared ground masala (Image 2).

Step 3: Add all the dry spice powders except garam masala (Image 3), stir and mix everything together.

Step 4: Turn the heat to medium-low and cook/bhoono (read all about the technique of bhoono in this recipe of coriander chicken) the masala until all the moisture evaporates and tiny droplets of oil start to appear at the edges (Image 4). This should take no more than 10 minutes. Keep stirring in between.

Steps 5 and 6: After the masala is bhoonoed (cooked as per above description), add the peas and cubed paneer (Image 5) and give it a good mix (Image 6) or until the masala coats the paneer and peas.

Step 7: Add about one to one and a half cups of water (add to adjust consistency to your liking, we like our curry a little thick), salt to taste and mix (Image 7). Turn the heat up to high and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to medium low and cook for 10 minutes.

Step 8: Turn the heat off, uncover, add garam masala and chopped cilantro (Image 8), adjust salt (if needed). Serve hot with roti, homemade garlic naan or rice. Enjoy!!

🍲Make it in a Pressure cooker or Instant Pot

• Pressure Cooker: Proceed with the recipe as is upto Step 6 as given above. Add the water and salt. Turn the heat to high and put the lid of pressure cooker on and lock it in place. Cook on high heat for 1 whistle and then turn the heat off. Open the lid when pressure releases. Finish with chopped cilantro and garam masala.
• Instant Pot: Set the Instant Pot to "saute" mode and proceed until Step 6. Add the water and salt. Cancel "saute" and close the lid of the Instant Pot with the pressure valve in sealing position. Press the pressure cook mode and set the timer to zero minutes. Let the Instant pot come to pressure and once it beeps, cancel the pressure cook mode and turn the Instant pot off. Let the pressure release naturally before opening the lid. Finish with chopped cilantro and garam masala.

📖Substitutions, Additions and Variations

• Vegan: You can use extra firm tofu in place of paneer to make the recipe vegan.
• Peas: instead of frozen peas you can use fresh peas when available.
• Creamy: use a tablespoon of heavy cream to add a creaminess to the curry sauce along with adding chopped cilantro and garam masala in the last step.
• Pressure cooker: If you are in a rush, mutter paneer can be made in a pressure cooker, though it doesn’t take too long to cook in an open sauce pan, either.

🫙Storage, freezing, and reheating instructions

• Store any leftover matar paneer in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It stays good for 2-3 days. Reheat any leftovers in the microwave or a small saucepan.
• I would not recommend freezing matar paneer. However, you can freeze the cooked (bhoonoed) masala and then add paneer, peas, and water when ready to make the curry.

🍴Meal Prep Ideas

• Chop Vegetables in Advance: Cut the onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and serrano pepper (if using) when you buy them or on the weekend. You can wash, stem, and chop the cilantro. Store them in separate airtight containers in the fridge for quick assembly when cooking.
• Blend the masala: Blend the masala and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook it.
• Cook the masala ahead: you can cook the masala until step 4, let it cool and store in the refrigerator.

🧑‍🍳Make Extra

• Double the masala: or triple, quadruple. The masala can be frozen in silicon lined muffin pans and then stored in freezer bags. When ready to use, just proceed from step 5 onward. You can also use this masala in other recipes like mixed lentil dal, black eyed peas, and many more.

🍽️What to serve it with?

1. Flatbreads. Yo can serve it with homemade or store-bought whole wheat rotis (also known as chapathi/fulka) or garlic or plain naan. Plain or palak (spinach) paranthas work great too.
2. Rice. If you are a rice person like me, you will enjoy eating matar paneer with either plain basmati rice or jeera or cumin rice.

Related

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If you make this recipe be sure to leave a comment and let me know how you liked it! Share it on Instagram with the hashtag #thekitchendocs or share on Facebook, too.

Love – Vaishali