Methi Matar Malai Recipe

First of all, thank you very much from my bottom of heart to all asked for my hubby’s health. It touched me very deeply! Thanks SO much you guys! This world is just beautiful worth to live our first and last life as a human being. You or I don’t know about our incarnation. Just live today’s life fully! That’s my new mantra. I have realised this wisdom just few years ago. Years ago, I used to live my life very seriously with narrowed thoughts. But now, I’ve changed myself that what I could feel!

Enough philosophy…

Whether you know it or not but since couple of months I’ve become apathetic for food photography!! Yeah, I’m feeling kinda (temporarily) got rid of food-photography and I find it hard to shoot even one or two images of my delicious food. No…somewhere in my brain, a tiny part is full of new recipe ideas and creativity. I’ve awesome plans to share in future. There are pile of recipes ready to hit the ‘publish’ button but without delicious images they’re completely out! So, sorry guys! if you find my recent photographs are being dull and not attractive to your eyes! :( Actually, I’m SO full with my dear Olympus P&S camera and dying to upgrade to my dream camera! Every time I shoot of food and upload them and review and sigh! I feel that I could have done much more better with my photography. Every time I reply to myself, OK! your long time wish will be real soon but wait for the right time! That’s all.

Alright! what do you do with your frozen peas, methi leaves and cream? There are number of things to do. But, I’ll randomly whip up into Methi Malai Matar. I’ll share this recipe after it got an approval from my house. I’ve made it couple of times, tried variations and finally thought I should share with you all. As it’s easy to prepare and worth to try if you love spicy Indian food.

 Print Recipe!

Methi Matar Malai Recipe

Serves 3-4 people with naan, chapati or paratha or even plain rice

This spicy curry is truly inspired from one of favourite blogs Mahanandi. She is one of those food bloggers whose recipes I follow religiously. I tried her original version first and it’s successful. Basically this recipe calls for malai aka heavy cream but you can adjust and try other variations like milk (full-fat is recommended) and vegan people can easily replace with almond milk as well. I tried it with almond milk too and it came out equally tasty and lip-smacking good! This time I tried with evaporated milk and guess what I had nice result. I didn’t use any sugar or jaggery here but you can use if you like.

* You can find fresh or frozen Methi/fenugreek leaves in any Indian grocery store. Check out the freezer section for frozen variety.

** If you want to substitute with any other greens, go ahead. But, the methi has a subtle flavour that adds a beautiful taste to this dish.

Methi = fenugreek leaves, Mater = Peas, Malai = fresh cream = Methi Matar Malai!

Ingredients:

• 1 C loosely packed Fresh Methi/fenugreek leaves, discard the hard stems (½ C if you are using frozen variety)
• 1 C fresh or frozen peas
• ½ C evaporated milk/almond milk/full fat milk or ½ C heavy cream
• 2 medium potato, boiled, peeled and cubed in 1 inch
• salt and turmeric powder – to taste
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• oil – tbsp

Masala paste:

• 1 small onion
• 1 inch ginger
• 4 green chilies, Indian, Thai or any hot variety (please adjust as per your heat tolerance level)
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• ¼ C fresh peas
• 1/3 C evaporated milk or water

Grind all masala ingredients into smooth paste.

How to:

1. If you’re using frozen methi and peas, thaw methi leaves in enough water and simmer for 5 minutes until all chunks are apart. Drain in colander. Soak peas in hot water and keep aside until needed.

2. Heat oil in a wide skillet. Add and sauté the masala paste for 7-8 minutes on medium heat until the raw smell of onion is gone and the paste is turned somewhat pinkish.

3. Now add cubed potato, methi and peas. Season with salt and turmeric. Sauté for 5 minutes more. Now add the remaining milk of your choice or heavy cream. Adjust the consistency. Cover partially with lid and cook about 10-12 minutes on slow-medium fire. You’ll see your sauce is getting thicken and peas and potatoes are tender now. Remove from the fire and serve with naan, roti or chapatti. Add a dollop (2 tbsp) of heavy cream before serving.

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