Triple M - Methi Malai Mattar

I had plans of making methi egg burji today but when I got home, Pras said he had eaten egg for lunch. I remembered the peas that I had bought and the pack of fresh cream that I had opened for the Butter Karela Masala. So, here goes the recipe for one of my favorite white curries - methi malai mattar.

I had made a similar recipe Methi Peas Panneer sometime back. It is similar except in this one I did not use cashews.

Ingredients (Serves 2 as a side dish):

1. 1 cup peas - I used safal frozen peas. 
2. 1 inch cinnamon stick
3. 3-4 cloves
4. 1 tsp cumin seeds
5. 1 tbsp oil
6. 1 bunch methi leaves
7. 1 small sized onion
8. 4-5 medium sized cloves of garlic
9. 1 inch size ginger
10. 4 green chillies
11. 150ml fresh cream
12. 1/4 cup milk
13. 1/4 cup water
14. Salt to taste
15. 1/2 tsp garam masala powder

How I made it :

1. In a mixie jar, blend together the onion, ginger, garlic, green chillies and fresh cream.
2. Put the peas in a microwave safe bowl and zap them for about a minute. 
3. In a kadai, heat oil.
4. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and cloves.
5. Once the cumin seeds change colour, add the chopped methi leaves.
6. Fry for about 4-5 minutes till the bitter smell goes away.
7. Add the mixture from step 1.
8. Add the green peas.
9. Let it fry on slow for about 8 minutes. Stir in between to ensure no sticking. When inhaled, there should be no raw smell of onions nor ginger nor garlic.
10. Add water and milk to get desired consistency.
11. Add salt.
12. Fry for about 2 minutes.
13. Just before turning off the heat, add the garam masala. Fry for about 30 seconds and then close the lid.
14. Serve hot with rotis.

Tips :

1. You could use kasuri methi instead of fresh methi leaves. You may not need to fry them as much as in step 5 above. Use about 5tsp of kasuri methi.
2. To get more volume, use cashews as in the recipe Methi Peas Panneer

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Mom's butter panneer recipe with Methi Rotis

After all my cooking experiments, I wanted to make something the way my mom makes it. All this, only because, I really did not get to eat much of mom made food when I was at home this last time. Butter panneer used to be one of my favorites - absolutely yummy with rotis and sindhi papad. Without any further delay, here goes the recipe

Ingredients (serves 2) : 

1. 200 grams of panneer - cut into cubes
2. 1 large onion - roughly chopped
3. 1 inch stick of cinnamon
4. 3 cloves
5. 3 medium tomatoes - chopped {the key is to have the same quantity of tomato as there is onion, so adjust accordingly}
6. 15 pieces whole cashew
7. 1 tbsp khus khus - add 1 more tbsp of cashew if you do not have khus khus. Khus Khus is also known as poppy seeds. Images of khus khus
8. 1 tsp red chilli powder
9. a pinch of kasuri methi
10. salt to taste
11. water
12. 3.5 tbsp of oil
13. ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
14. garlic - 6 cloves
15. Milk for getting desired consistency

How I made it :
1. Soak the khus khus and cashew in a small quantity of water, enough to at least cover the khus khus and cashew. Heat up the water - a minute in the microwave. Watch the time as the water could over spill.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the onions. Fry till golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute and set aside to cool.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tomatoes and red chilli powder. Fry till fat separates and set aside to cool.

4. Once cooled, add the tomato mix, onion mix and the khus khus and cashew along with the water in which they are soaking into the food processor and blend till smooth.
5. Heat a little oil and lightly fry the panneer pieces till they get a golden tinge on all sides. This step can be skipped if you are sure about the panneer. I had tried heritage panneer for the first time and hence did not want to risk it.
6.Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Put in the kasuri methi. Fry for a minute. Put in the blended mixture. Add salt. Let it bubble away (cover with lid, else your kitchen will be an absolute mess). Make sure to stir as the cashew paste will make it stick. After about 5 minutes, add some milk till you get the desired consistency. Once the fat separates, add the panneer pieces. Turn off heat after 5 minutes. Add a dollop of butter before serving.

Note : In step 4, mom's recipes requires the cashew and khus khus to be ground separately. Since I have a huge mixie jar, in which that small quantity wont get ground to a smooth paste, I add it along with the other stuff to be ground. In case you do grind it separately, add it in step 6 before adding the milk and fry for 3 minutes.

Here's a pic with naans which I made recently.

This tastes best with rotis. We had it with methi roti which tasted good too.

Methi roti recipe :
1 small bunch of methi
3 green chillies
1 tsp of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 handful of besan/gram flour
3 handfuls of atta/wheat flour
1 tbsp oil
Water

Grind the green chillies and cleaned methi to a paste. Add all other ingredients and make a soft dough. Roll out like chapati and roast on a hot tawa with oil/ghee/butter.

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Methi Peas Panneer

The past week has been hectic with a wedding in the family so I hardly got to do much cooking. When my friends asked me what my weekend plans were I said I would relax and probably do some baking. For me, cooking/baking is therapeutic. I need to come home and cook my meal to feel that all is well. So, here is my first post for this weekend with methi peas panneer in a white sauce. This is a really simple recipe and is ready in a jiffy.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 10-15 minutes
Ingredients (serves 2):
1/2 cup packed fresh methi/fenugreek leaves
1/4 cup frozen shelled peas
200g panneer/cottage cheese - chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup fresh cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
salt to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
To grind :
10 cashew soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
1/2 tsp khus khus/poppy seeds soaked along with cashew
1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
4 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger

How I made it :
1. Grind the ingredients under the "To grind" section and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds.
3. Add the methi leaves - chop them up if you like.
4. Once your kitchen is filled with the aromas of the fried methi, add the panneer and green peas. Fry till there are tiny bits of brown seen on the panneer.
5. Add the ground paste.
6. Fry for about 8 minutes. Do take care as it can stick to the bottom of the pan because of the cashew and poppy seeds paste.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Add the whipped cream and milk. You may require more milk based on the consistency that you desire.
9. Finally add the garam masala. Mix well and serve hot with rotis/paratas.

I served it with plain parathas.

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