Easy Matar Paneer Recipe – Restaurant Style

Make creamy, rich, and delicious matar paneer at home with this recipe.

Matar Paneer is by all means one of the most popular Paneer recipe. To make matar paneer, matar and paneer are cooked in Indian spices. This recipe is from North-Indian Cuisine.

What is Matar Paneer

Matar = Green Peas, Paneer = Indian Cottage Cheese. A delicious curry made by cooking paneer and matar in gravy made of onion, tomato and selected Indian spices, makes matar paneer.

I have no idea how and who invented this paneer curry (also written as mattar or matur paneer). Who so ever invented this, did a massive favour to curry and paneer lovers.

I am yet to find someone who does not like matar paneer. It was one of the very first paneer recipe which I made way back in 2007. That time I was no-voice in cooking and somehow clobbered some paneer pieces, green peas and spices. It was not the best one that I had made. Since then, I have came a long way round and now can make mouth watering matar paneer, even in sleep mode.

I remember getting married and being at in-law’s place. There is a tradition in Hindu weddings that, new bride cooks meal for the first time and everyone looks forward to that meal. I made a few things as part of that meal, ranging from curries, roti, rice, raita and dessert. I remember that I made this paneer as one of the sabji / curry during that time. Reason I choose this curry was as I knew everyone will love matar paneer and its an easy recipe.

Ingredients

The key ingredients for this paneer curry are

• Matar / Muttar. This is green peas. Look for fresh green peas for the best taste. You can use frozen ones too. Simply soak these frozen green peas in warm water for few mins before cooking.
• Paneer, or cottage cheese. Best matar paneer requires nice soft paneer. You can make paneer at home or if using store bought make sure its fresh. If buying from super store, put the paneer in warm water for 20 mins and then cut in desired shape.
• Indian Spices. The magic of Indian spices makes this paneer curry super scrumptious. These spices include garam masala, asafoetida, cumin seeds, coriander powder, kitchen king masala, etc.

Method for Making Matar Paneer

• First of all put tomatoes in 1 cup of boiling water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes take them out and peel the skin and then chop them. 
• Now take a Kadhai / pan and put it on medium flame. Add 2 tablespoon of oil to it. When oil is warm add asafoetida and cumin seeds to it. Once they brown add chopped onions and sauté.
• Once onions are translucent add ginger garlic paste to it and sauté. When they are cooked and raw smell goes off add chopped tomatoes and green chilli and sauté. Cover the lid and cook for 5 minutes. Now add all the spices/ dry masala and sauté until it start leaving oil.
• Now add peas/matar and paneer cubes to it and add 1.5 cup of water. Cover with lid again and cook for 10 minutes on slow-medium flame.
• After 10 minutes, open the lid and add butter to it. Sauté for 1 minute and switch off flame. Finally Garnish with coriander and serve.

Pro Tips

• Always use fresh paneer. In case you have store bought paneer, keep the paneer in hot water for 10 mins. This will soften the paneer.
• Check how green peas taste. Some peas can be too sweet. You do not want sweet peas.
• I have used Asafoetida. If you looking for gluten-free matar paneer, you can ignore adding asafoetida.
• You can shallow fry the paneer cubes before adding to gravy to give the dish restaurant looks, simply shallow fry them in 1 tablespoon oil in a non stick pan with both the sides of paneer turning golden brown.

This Matar Paneer is

• Easy to make.
• One Pot meal. Less utensils to clean.
• Tastes absolutely amazing.
• Can be made gluten-free by excluding Asafoetida from the recipe.
• Suitable for freezing.
• Loved by a huge majority across countries and age ranges.

Vegan Matar Paneer

You can make vegan matar paneer by replacing paneer with tofu. You can also try the aloo matar paneer version of this matar paneer.

Storage and Serving Suggestion

Once cooked and bought to room temperature, you can freeze this later use. You can keep this matar paneer refrigerated for 2 days easily.

Serve peas paneer curry, hot with any Indian bread, or if you love rice, serve with plain steamed rice. The taste of this curry will salivate you and your guests for certain.

If you are a paneer lover, you may like to try out some of these delicious paneer recipes on my blog, such as beetroot panner, paneer tikka parcels, achari paneer, kadahi paneer, palak paneer paratha, etc

Below are the ingredients and step by step recipe of restaurant style matar paneer.

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