Methi Matar Malai / Spinach Peas Cream Recipe
Methi Matar Malai is a delicious Indian dish. It is a perfect dish if you are fond of green leafy veggies and cream. This recipe with green peas and creamy sauce goes great with Indian Roti, Naan or rice. It can become a part of your weekly main meals plan. Specially for children who don’t eat leafy veggies, this dish with creamy juices is life saver for their parents as kids enjoy the yummy cream sauce a lot. In Indian lingo Methi is Spinach, Matar is Green Peas & Malai is cream. Generally in Indian restaurants this dish is cooked using regular buffello’s fatty milk, I will be using coconut milk here. Coconut milk is Naturally Gluten free that makes this dish a gluten-free recipe. Check out the ingredients and directions below.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 6 Onions, chopped
- 1 Green Chili
- 2 Tomatoes
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Dry Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Dry Mango Powder
- ½ tsp Dry Cumin Powder
- ¼ tsp Red pepper powder
- 1 ½ Cup Matar
- 3 Cups Water
- 1 ½ Cup Methi / Spinach, chopped
- 1 tbsp Oil
- ½ tsp Cumin
- 1 Piece Black Cardamom
- 1 Cup Coconut Milk
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- 6 Pieces Cashew Nuts
- ½ tsp Dried Fenugreek Leaves
- 3 Cup Cream
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
Directions
You will need two pots on flames. On one pot we will boil Green Peas and simultaneously on other pot we will prepare sauce / gravy.
Step 1
Take a pot. Add 2 cups of water and put it on a medium heat. Pour in Green Pease. Add pinch of Salt and Powdered Sugar. Cover the pot with a lead.
Step 2
Take a pot or skillet. Add 2 tbsp oil on a medium flame. Once the oil is hot, add 6 Cashew nuts, chopped chilies and 1 chopped Onion. Stir it well. Add 1/2 tsp salt. Keep stirring until Onion goes golden brown. Later put flame on a low and add 2 chopped tomato. Make sure onions don’t get burn.
Step 3
It’s time to add dry spices. Add Turmeric powder, Coriander powder, Mango powder, Cumin powder & pinch of red pepper powder. Do not add too much of red pepper since sauce becomes red. Stir well until tomatoes are fully cooked. Generally mixture releases the oil once it is fully cooked. Keep a check on Green Peas. Give it a stir in between. Hold one Green Peas in a pinch and squeeze it, if the pulp comes out, it’s the sign it is fully cooked. Put the flame off. Strain the Green peas and put it in a bowl of ice water. This will help Green peas retain it’s color.
Step 4
Once the tomato mixture is cooked and oil is released, put the flame off. Take out the mixture, put it aside on a room temperature for grinding. You can use the same oily pot for cooking Methi / Spinach. Take 1 & 1/2 Cup Methi / Spinach, stir it until shrivels. Stir it for 2 – 3 minutes. Dish out on a plate and keep aside.
Combining of white Sauce, Methi / Spinach and Green Peas
Step 5
Put tomato and cashew nut mixture in a grinder. Add 1 Cup water and make a fine pest. Pour the pest in a same pot where we cooked Methi / Spinach. Put 1 tbsp oil and heat it on a medium flame. Take 1 black cardamom and pill out seeds inside it. Put it in oil, add Cumin and stir well. Once the cumin starts to sizzle, add tomato pest in it. This tempering process will add aroma to the pest. Keep stirring it until the pest gets boiled. Bubbles will starts popping on the surface.
Step 6
Strain the boiled green peas and add it to the pest. Stir it and then add roasted Methi / Spinach. Combine it well. Heat it for 1 to 2 minutes. You will find your mixture thick. To make it thin, we will add 1 Cup Coconut Milk. Stir it well. Cover it with a lead and let it cook for 3 – 4 minutes.
Step 7
Add Dry Fenugreek leaves, Garam Masala or any dry spice powder and stir well. Later add fresh cream in it and give it a good stir. Again cover the pot with lead and cook it for 2 minutes.
It’s done. Your delicious Methi Matar Malai, lavish Indian Dish is ready. You can serve it hot on a bed of rice or you can enjoy this creamy dish with Indian Roti or Naan or Tadoor Roti.
Share and comment if you like the recipe.