Aloo Matar Paneer Restaurant style

The world of Blogging is so beautiful, I never knew. It gives immense pleasure to me. I enjoy cooking a lot. I really pat my back myself when I hear that a particular dish is nice from Mr. S or any one who tastes it for that matter. I had recently joined a group of bloggers SYS-W Show Your Styles to the World. I was not aware when the group started but recently Viji who announced about this event and was very happy to know the rules and regulations of the event. I just intimated her that I wanted to join and she readily included me to the group. I was little late to join hence missed the thrilling part of the event, that was choosing a pair of numbers of hidden ingredients and later knowing the ingredients. As I was late, got assigned a pair of numbers and to my surprise both the hidden ingredients were loved by me. They were Potatoes and Green Peas. As I learnt the ingredients, the very first thing that struck my brains were Aloo Matar Paneer. It is an exotic flavorful curry that involves potatoes, tender green peas and Indian cottage cheese in a mild cashew nut gravy. Here I share the exotic restaurant style Aloo Matar Paneer. 

 



Ingredients:

Potatoes-2 large chopped thin lengthwise.

Tender Green Peas-1 cup

Indian Cottage Cheese/Paneer-1 cup diced into small cubes.

Tomatoes-2 pureed

Onions-2 medium chopped

Ginger-1'' chopped

Garlic- 3-4 cloves

Cumin seeds-1 tsp

Oil-3 tbsp.

Red chilly powder-1 tsp

Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Coriander powder-1 tsp

Garam masala-1 tsp.

Cashew nut paste-1 tbsp.

Milk-1 1/2 cup

Sugar-1/2 tsp (optional)

Water-1 1/2 cups

Salt to taste

 

Recipe:

1. Chop paneer and soak in warm water.
2. In a blender add chopped onions, ginger, garlic and blend to get a smooth paste.
3. Chop the potatoes and set aside.
4. Set aside the smooth paste prepared in step 2.
5. In a pan add oil and when hot add cumin seeds and as they crackle add the paste to it and saute.
6. Saute well till the mixture starts to leave oil.
7. Now add potatoes, turmeric powder and salt to taste.
8. Add water and cook the potatoes till they are almost 80% done.
9. Then add tender green peas and mix well.
10. Let them cook further a little followed by that add coriander powder, red chilly powder and mix well.
11. Now add pureed tomatoes and cook for a while.
12. Then add sugar and lower the flame.
13. Add milk at this stage and stir well Adjust salt accordingly.
14. Then add the cashew nut paste and give a good mix, add garam masala and bring it to a boil.
15. Now add paneer and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with chapatis or any Indian flat bread or even rice.

 

 

 

Notes:

1. Cashewnut paste can be prepared by soaking cashewnuts in hot water for 5 minutes and then grinding with required amount of water to get a smooth paste.Cashewnut paste can be replaced with roasted peanut paste too.
2. Instead of pureeing tomatoes, can substitute with store brought tomato puree.
3. Paneer could be skipped to reduce the calories and replaced with Tofu if available. If not skip it and that would result in a plain Aloo Matar Gravy.
 

Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)

 

Sendind this to SYS-W October 2013, Cook With White by Merry Tummy.