Methi Matar Malai

Hello friends,

Happy Makar Sankranti, Lohri and Pongal to all my readers. Hope you all are enjoying winter chills and hot delicious home cooked food. Do so as the winter won't last for a long time.
Today I am making yet another winter special dish -  non spicy yet interesting dish with addictive flavours. Any guesses?

With greens available in abundance in this season,  I decided to stir up Methi Matar Malai. Methi Matar Malai is a north indian dish which is not so spicy unlike most north indian dishes.

The whitish green color, comes from cashew, milk and Methi leaves. The creamy texture and the subtle flavours makes it an enjoyable dish. I substituted cashews to make it more healthy and lessen the calories.
My Methi Matar Malai recipe is fairly simple to make and tasted some what like what you get in the restaurants. The sweet taste of milk, cream and peas and bitter spicy taste of Methi is a winning combination.

Ingredients

1 cups Green Peas
1 bunch of  chopped Fenugreek leaves (methi bhaji)
2 Green Cardamom (elaichi)
1-inch piece of Cinnamon ( Dalchini)
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 tsp ginger - garlic paste
1 Green Chilli
2  tbsp Fresh Cream
1/2 cup Milk

1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 cup Water
Salt to taste
1 tbsp cooking  Oil

Method 

1.Clean the methi leaves from their stem, wash it  thoroughly in running water. Squeeze and chop them roughly. Now set it aside. 

2. Boil the peas and then transfer then in cold water to retain green colour.  

3. Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in a deep bottom pan.

4.  Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and wait till the seeds crackle.

5. Then add onions, green chilli, cardamom,  cinnamon, ginger/ garlic paste. Stir and let the rawness of onion go and saute for two minutes more. 

6. Let the pan cool down a bit. Then transfer the entire mixture into a mixer. Add a little water if need be and grind into a smooth paste. 

7. In the same pan, saute the mixture for few minutes. Now add the milk and give it a good mix. 

8. Once it comes to a little boil, add the chopped methi leaves and mix.

9. Add boiled peas after two minutes and keep stirring. 

10. Add garam masala, salt and cream and mix well.  Cover and let it simmer on medium-low flame for 4-5 minutes.

11. Once the methi leaves cook and gravy is slightly thickened, switch off the gas and let it cool. The dish will thicken further. 

12. Serve it with hot parathas/ rotis, salad and a dollop of homemade butter.

I made a batch of methi rotis along with Methi Matar Malai.  

Double dose of Methi, double the of flavoursome food.

Check out my previous Methi Matar Masala recipe 

Happy Cooking!!

Methi Matar Masala

  


Methi or fenugreek leaves is not everyone's favourite dish to eat, because of its slightly bitter taste and if not cooked well once, it leads to an aversion for this leafy vegetable every time. However  when cooked well with the right ingredients, it tastes finger licking. I like to make two dishes with methi. One is parathas and the other dish is Methi Matar Malai. 

Methi Matar Malai is a delicious Indian dish of green peas in a creamy, rich sauce, always found on vegetarian restaurant menus. It can be very rich  and heavy however I try to make it less creamy yet  not compromising on flavour.

Ingredients

• 1/2 bunch of methi leaves 
• 1 cups green peas
• I tsp  ginger garlic paste
• 2 whole slit green chillies
• 1 medium onion 
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• A bowl of 2 tsp  fresh cream and 2 tsp curd 
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp garam masala
• Salt to taste 
• 2 pieces of Cinnamon.
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
  
  Note if puree is not handy you can use a tomato instead.
  
  
  

  Method|

  
  1. Clean and wash the methi leaves, Chop them up roughly.
  
  2.  Heat oil in the pan, add cinnamon sticks, chopped onions, ginger garlic paste and slit green chillies to it.  Saute everything until the onions turn translucent and just start to brown.
  
  3. Add the Methi leaves to the pan and stir, the methi will start to leave water.
  
  4. Now add the tomato puree, other spices, salt and cover with a lid for 5 minutes.
  
  
  
  
  
  5. Add the boiled green peas and continue stirring.
  
  6. When the dish is drying up, you should add the curd/malai mixture, stirring it in slowly on low gas for two minutes or so. 
  
  7. Do not overcook it, as curd may curdle and get lumpy.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  8. Now this dish can be enjoyed with roti or even ghee rice.