Methi Malai Matar with Paneer is made with fresh fenugreek leaves, green peas, and soft chunks of paneer. Learn how to make this unforgettable methi paneer recipe on the stove in about 40 minutes.
Heat a wok or kadhai on medium heat and add oil. Once the oil heats up, add onions, ginger, garlic, chopped chilies, cashews, and salt.
Fry them till the onions are translucent and soft - it will take about 10 minutes.
Take it off the heat and let this mixture cool for at least 8-10 minutes.
Once it has cooled down, grind them to a fine puree.
Add oil to the kadhai and once it is hot, add shahi jeera. Once it starts sizzling, add the remaining spices - green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon stick, and peppercorns.
Fry the spices for about 10-15 seconds and then add peas and methi leaves along with spice powders - turmeric powder, cumin powder, and coriander powder. Mix them well and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the pureed onion mixture along with 1 cup of water and sugar. Mix well. Let the mixture come to a boil.
Add paneer pieces to this mixture and gently mix them in. Let the gravy simmer for 5-10 minutes. Switch off the heat and add heavy cream and stir it in.
Do a taste check and add more salt (if needed).
Serve hot with rotis or naan.
Notes
Variations
Use 1/4 cup yogurt instead of heavy cream to the curry base. I do that to mix it up sometimes.
You can add about 1 cup of chopped tomatoes and fry and puree them along with the onions to give it a different twist.
Skip heavy cream - I always skip the cream because in my humble opinion, cashews add enough creaminess to this dish. If you want to make this dish nut-free, skip the cashews and use cream instead.
Add corn instead of paneer to make methi malai corn or skip the paneer to make methi malai matar. And if you want to make it non-vegetarian, you can make this dish with chicken too.
If you are wondering if you can replace fresh fenugreek leaves with the dried version, the answer is yes. Dried kasoori methi are so much more potent than the fresh ones. I would just use 1/4th cup to replace 2 cups of fresh ones.
I normally add a dash of garam masalato most of my north Indian dishes but for this dish, I felt like it didn't need it because the whole spices were sufficient. You can always add it to give it a new twist.
Notes / tips
One cup of water may sound excessive but this curry soaks up water in no time.
Most recipes call for grinding the onions first and then cooking it. I prefer cooking the onions then grinding it because when cooking raw onions paste takes longer to get the raw taste out.