Methi Matar Malai is rich punjabi style gravy made with fenugreek leaves, green peas loaded with cream/malai along with cashew paste making it a creamy rich side dish for roti or naan. I’ve shared a light version – using yogurt with some malai & milk. Malai is the most important ingredient of this dish is obtained by boiling milk and collecting the fat formed on surface. You can buy fresh cream or make your own at home. Making malai is a long process, so I collect mine in batches. Everyday while boiling milk for making yogurt, I skim off the fat which forms on the surface and refrigerate. If the whole process sounds odd, just use store bought malai or cream. This dish can be made with just malai & cashew nuts, but in order to cut the fat, I skipped the nuts and used less malai and diluted with milk.
METHI MATAR MALAI RECIPE / VEGETARIAN SIDE DISH RECIPES / VEGETARIAN RECIPES / SIDE DISH FOR CHAPATI / SIDE DISH FOR ROTI / METHI RECIPES / FENUGREEK RECIPES / GREEN PEAS GRAVY / NORTH INDIAN GRAVY RECIPES / VEG RECIPES / GRAVY RECIPES / VENDHAYAM / METHI MATAR / EASY SIDE DISH
| Ingredients | |
|---|---|
| 1 cup | Fenugreek leaves |
| 1/2 cup | Green peas (I’ve used cooked sweet peas) |
| 2 cups | Onion (finely chopped) |
| 1/2 inch | Ginger (finely minced) |
| 6 (small) | Green chili (minced) |
| 3 | Cloves |
| 3 sticks | Cinnamon stick (small) |
| 1 | Cardamom |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Cumin seeds |
| 2 pinch | Sugar |
| 3 tablespoons | Beaten yogurt |
| 1 cup | Milk |
| 1/4 cup | Malai (I’ve used homemade) |
| 1/4 teaspoon | Turmeric powder |
| 1 tablespoon | Ghee |
| 1 tablespoon | Oil |
| 1/2 teaspoon | Salt (or to taste) |
Lets start with the preparation… Here is fresh beaten yogurt, cooked sweet green peas and fresh fenugreek leaves all cleaned & washed.
- Blend the malai with milk to a thin creamy consistency and keep aside.
- Separate the fenugreek leaves from the stalk , wash thoroughly, chop finely and keep aside.
- Heat oil and ghee in a pan, add the fresh whole masalas (cinnamon, cloves and cardamon) and toast the cumin seeds.
- Fry the finely minced green chillies, ginger and onion till they turn golden and crispy.
- Now add the turmeric powder, salt, sugar, and fenugreek leaves. Fry for few minutes till the leaves get slightly wilted.
- Now reduce the flame to bring down the heat, add cooked green peas and beaten yogurt and stir in. (flame should be low otherwise the yogurt mixture will separate)
- After few seconds add the milk malai mixture and stir in gently. Do not increase the heat, as it might make the gravy curdle.
- Just simmer until the oil separates on top. Switch off and serve hot with roti or paratha.
Notes
- Serve 2-3 adults
- I have used cooked sweet green peas. If you are using raw peas, cook them separately and then add or cook with onion mixture before adding yogurt.
- Green chili is the only item which makes this dish spicy, added in this recipe are 6 small green chillies. Add more green chilies if you prefer it spicy.
- Cashew paste or powder can be added to make gravy extra rich and thick.
- If you wish, add garam masala powder instead of fresh whole garam masala(cinnamon, cloves, cardamom).
- Adding turmeric is optional, the dish will look bland or pale white, hence to give some color, I’ve added turmeric.
- If you wish to make the rich version, then skip yogurt & milk. Use malai & cashew paste instead.
- Making malai is time consuming- boil milk for couple of hours and collect the fat that forms on the top OR use store bought malai or fresh cream.
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