Methi Mutter Malai
(Methi-Mutter-Malai in Marathi)
I am not a huge fan of restaurant kind of Punjabi food. I usually try to avoid going to these so called 'Indian' restaurants as the gravies of all the dishes tastes the same. There is hardly any indication if the dish is vegan or not. The whole staff is so careless at times that if you ask them, they might just say malai kofta is vegan ;). On the other hand, homemade daal makhani, alu matar, chole, rajma tastes so yummy that I can just live on that. I hear so many people talk about 'restaurant taste' and I feel sorry for them because they associate good food with restaurant. I remember an incident from my childhood. We had gone to one of our acquaintance's home and lady of the house had made nice upama. My mom complimented and their college going kid immediately said 'but it doesn't taste good like hotelwala's'. My mom got very angry and said 'why don't you start living in hostel so that you can eat hotel food everyday?'I am not sure if that kid learned any lesson but I surely did.
'Methi Mutter Malai' is one thing I can eat any time of the day. I veganized it about 5 years ago and with few changes, still make it to this day. Extremely simple recipe you can make even on a busy weeknight.
Methi Mutter Malai
1 big bunch Methi (Fenugreek)
1 cup Green Peas
4-5 Almonds
5-6 Cashews
1 large Onion
1 large Tomato
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Red Chili Powder - per taste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Turmeric and asafoetida - pinch each
Preparation -
Soak almonds and cashews for an hour minimum.
Pluck methi leaves, wash and then chop. set it aside.
If you are using frozen peas, please thaw them before use.
Grind onion to make smooth paste. Also puree tomato separately and set aside. Please do not use water while making these pastes.
Heat oil in a think bottom pan and add cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric. When cumin seeds start sizzling, add onion paste. Saute onion paste on a low flame until its fully cooked and onion smell is gone and oil starts to separate. It takes about 7-8 minutes minimum.
Now add tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes, add salt, red chili powder, garam masala and saute for couple of minutes.
Then add peas, cover and cook for couple of minutes.
Add chopped methi, mix it well. Cover the pan and let the methi and peas cook completely.
Meanwhile finely grind soaked nuts. Add the paste to cooked sabji and continue cooking for just a minute or too.
Serve warm with rotis/chapatis.
Tips -
I am not a huge fan of restaurant kind of Punjabi food. I usually try to avoid going to these so called 'Indian' restaurants as the gravies of all the dishes tastes the same. There is hardly any indication if the dish is vegan or not. The whole staff is so careless at times that if you ask them, they might just say malai kofta is vegan ;). On the other hand, homemade daal makhani, alu matar, chole, rajma tastes so yummy that I can just live on that. I hear so many people talk about 'restaurant taste' and I feel sorry for them because they associate good food with restaurant. I remember an incident from my childhood. We had gone to one of our acquaintance's home and lady of the house had made nice upama. My mom complimented and their college going kid immediately said 'but it doesn't taste good like hotelwala's'. My mom got very angry and said 'why don't you start living in hostel so that you can eat hotel food everyday?'I am not sure if that kid learned any lesson but I surely did.
'Methi Mutter Malai' is one thing I can eat any time of the day. I veganized it about 5 years ago and with few changes, still make it to this day. Extremely simple recipe you can make even on a busy weeknight.
Methi Mutter Malai1 big bunch Methi (Fenugreek)
1 cup Green Peas
4-5 Almonds
5-6 Cashews
1 large Onion
1 large Tomato
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Red Chili Powder - per taste
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds
Turmeric and asafoetida - pinch each
Preparation -
Soak almonds and cashews for an hour minimum.
Pluck methi leaves, wash and then chop. set it aside.
If you are using frozen peas, please thaw them before use.
Grind onion to make smooth paste. Also puree tomato separately and set aside. Please do not use water while making these pastes.
Heat oil in a think bottom pan and add cumin seeds, asafoetida and turmeric. When cumin seeds start sizzling, add onion paste. Saute onion paste on a low flame until its fully cooked and onion smell is gone and oil starts to separate. It takes about 7-8 minutes minimum.
Now add tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes, add salt, red chili powder, garam masala and saute for couple of minutes.
Then add peas, cover and cook for couple of minutes.
Add chopped methi, mix it well. Cover the pan and let the methi and peas cook completely.
Meanwhile finely grind soaked nuts. Add the paste to cooked sabji and continue cooking for just a minute or too.
Serve warm with rotis/chapatis.
Tips -
- Its important to cook onion paste thoroughly. Partially cooked onion paste smells terrible. It takes about 5-7 minutes to cook medium size onion.
- I have tried this with Maharashtrian Goda masala once when I ran out of garam masala, that tastes great as well.
- I once tried ginger garlic paste but its bit stronger for the delicate flavors of peas, nuts and methi.
Very new to me..must try once..
ReplyDeleteThat looks completely delicious!
ReplyDeleteI often talk about "that specific restaurant taste" but not because I think good food is only found in restaurants, far from it. It is because the Punjabi restaurant food simply tastes different from the food I grew up with and it is fun for me to recreate those dishes at home once in a while.
Chitra - you should ;)
ReplyDeleteNupur, me too did not grow up with punjabi food and also try to recreate some dishes but only few ;)
me too did not grow up with punjabi food and sometimes like to try to recreate some dishes but only few.in u r receipe where is the malai should we add cream before serving?or nut paste is sufficient?
ReplyDeletewhen i tried before peas gets hard; any solution?
Hi Gauri, no you should not put any malai. this is a vegan recipe doesnt use any animal products.
ReplyDeletefor peas, try using tender peas and dont make it too dry it should have some gravy.
I have always loved methi matar malai in the restaurant but have tried making it at home only once but with cream. The nut paste version sounds healthier. Will try to make it one of these days. Any suggestions on how to make the bitterness of methi less bitter?
ReplyDeleteJaya, try blanching methi to take bitterness off. I love methi's bitterness so I use methi as is.
ReplyDeletei just read half n hr back.. made it.. n it turned out to be yummy.. thnx for sharing it simple n tasty.. cokin for me is rare circumstances.. still managed it very well.. :)
ReplyDeleteI made this yesterday for the second time (obviously because I liked it the first time around!) and the only change I made was I strained the nut paste before adding it to the bhaji and and I added it soon after the methi and let everything cook together. It gave the bhaaji a much more smooth malaidaar texture. Taste was just as good.
ReplyDelete