METHI MALAI MATAR RECIPE

METHI MALAI MATAR RECIPE

Methi Matar Malai

Marriage is an essential ingredient in social life. For almost all, it’s a way to conjoin two separate families and their culture into an interesting concoction which to recreate the harmony.

My little sissy has been married for only 11 months now, but alike her, it’s also a beautiful voyage for me to explore some incredibly delicious north Indian cuisines…yes, she’s got married to a Delhite Punjabi munda, that too a typical one. And with such a great opportunity I took my cooking fetish to both learn and share some of the greatest Punjabi delicacies. Let’s start with the sumptuous Methi Malai Matar…

Methi /Fenugreek is one of my personal favourite leaves, especially in winter session it’s obvious in our household to store in large amount of methi saag for repetitive use in a week. And after trying this wonderful recipe I must admit my love for this leafy veggie has increased to another level.

Now let’s begin…

Ingredients needed:
Green methi leaves- 2 ½ cups, chopped
Green pees-  1 cup, parboiled
Malai/ Fresh cream- 1 cup
Oil/Clarified butter (ghee)- 2 tablespoon
Salt- To Taste
Water- ½ cup

for masala paste:
Onion- 1 big or 2 medium, chopped
Ginger- 1 inch piece
Garlic-3/4 cloves
Cumin seeds/Whole Jeera- 1 teaspoon
Cashew nuts- ½ cup
Green chillies- 2/3, broken in half

For garnishing:
Handful of chopped fresh green coriander leaves

How to:
Blend all the ingredients for making paste adding little water.

Wash the fenugreek leaves properly and then break them from the stems.

Heat up the oil/ghee in a kadai. Fry the masala paste for 5-6 minutes until the raw smell evaporates and the oil separates.
Now put the fenugreek leaves, mix well with the masala adding very little water to it. Fry till the leaves get soft.
Add the parboiled matar/pees to the kadai, combine properly.
Now add water to make gravy as per your desire. Cook on a low flame until the pees get cooked. Sprinkle salt to your taste.
Add the fresh cream and cook for another 2-3 minutes on low flame.
Finally garnish with chopped coriander and serve the dish with Nun, Paranthe or plain chapati.

Useful Tips:
You can add very small amount of sugar/brown sugar or gud/jaggery while making the gravy, it would give your gravy a nice colour and sweetness.
Never cook your dish for longer after adding fresh cream as it could get curdled.
I prefer parboiling the pees before adding them to the gravy as full boiling them may make the pees very delicate and mixed into the gravy.