Prajakta's Matar Paneer

Matar paneer is one of those deeply comforting North Indian dishes that makes a weeknight dinner feel a little more special. Sweet peas and golden, buttery paneer get tucked into a silky tomato gravy layered with cardamom, ginger, garlic, and warm spices. Serve it with hot rotis and let that creamy, saucy gravy do the work.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups frozen peas (215g)
500g paneer, cut into ¾-1 inch cubes
3 tablespoons salted butter (40g)
1 tablespoon neutral oil (22g)
2 small bay leaves
2 pods Baraka Cardamom
1 piece black cardamom
2-inch piece ginger
2 garlic cloves
1 medium red onion (192g), roughly chopped 1¼ cups
1 teaspoon kosher salt, (plus more to taste if needed)
2 large plum tomatoes (230g), roughly chopped 1½ cups
6 raw cashews (10g)
1 tablespoon chopped coriander stems
1 tablespoon kashmiri chilli powder
¼ teaspoon Garam Masala
1 teaspoon powdered Nandini Coriander
½ teaspoon ground Jodhana Cumin
1 teaspoon Pragati Turmeric
1 teaspoon kasuri methi
1½ tablespoons fresh cream (20g)

Methods

Fill a medium pot with water and set over medium high heat. Once boiling, add peas and cook until bright green and tender, 7-10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a medium skillet set over medium heat, add butter, and once melted and foaming, add paneer in batches and shallow fry the cubes until lightly brown on two sides, 2 minutes each. Transfer to a plate and keep aside.
In the same pot as the peas, set over medium high heat, add the oil, bay leaves, green cardamom, black cardamom, ginger and garlic, and stir until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Then add in the onion, salt, and cook until translucent, 2-3 minutes.
Lower the heat and stir in the tomatoes, cashews, chopped coriander stems. Cover and cook until tomatoes and coriander stems are tender, and tomatoes are jammy, 8-10 min. Note: If your tomatoes are not as juicy and not super soft, add in an extra ¼ teaspoons of salt and 3-4 tablespoons of water to help it along!
Stir in the kashmiri chilli powder and cook until fragrant and color darkens lightly, another 2 minutes and remove from the heat.
Remove and discard the bay leaves and the black cardamom from the mixture and transfer it to a blender, scraping the sides of the pot well. Add 2 tablespoons of water into the pot, swirl and pour into the blender so you don’t leave anything behind. Blend well until smooth. Note: You can also use a food processor or an immersion blender.
Rinse the same pot or wipe down with a kitchen roll, and set over medium low heat. Add the remaining oil and the ground spices (garam masala, coriander powder, ground cumin, turmeric), and cook until sizzling, 1-2 minutes. Stir in the blended tomato mixture to the pot and cook until combined and sizzling, 2-3 minutes. Add ¼ - ½ cup of water (depending on how thick your gravy is) to the blender, swirling around and add to the pot. Stir well so the spices are mixed in well. Lower the heat to a low flame, and cook until the gravy is lightly thickened but still saucy and flavors are combined, 5 minutes, then increase the heat to a medium flame to simmer for a minute.
Stir in the drained peas, cover and lower the heat to low, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Uncover, and add in the fried paneer along with the juices on the plate, the kasuri methi and ketchup. Stir well to combine, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
Uncover, and taste for salt - adding 1-2 tablespoons of hot water if the gravy has thickened too much.
Drizzle the cream on top, and serve hot with rotis.