Matar Paneer is a culinary masterpiece, where creamy paneer and vibrant green peas unite in a symphony of flavors, creating a dish that embodies the heart and soul of Punjabi cuisine. Have a pleasant bite of sizzling hot tandoori roti dunked in this mesmerizing matar paneer from "India's Bread Basket".
Chop the measured quantities of onion and tomato and keep aside.
Dice the paneer into even sized cubes and place them in a large plate. Pour in hot water over the cubes and keep aside. We do this to make it softer and supple.
Heat a saucepan and tip in a little oil and throw one or two cloves, a bay leaf and an inch of cinnamon to it, followed by a few cashews and two or three cardamom. When it becomes fragrant add the sliced onion and when it turns slightly golden, just plop in the chopped tomatoes too. Cook the ingredients until soft in low flame and turn off when it is done.
When it cools down, just discard the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and add it to a blender and make an absolute fine paste out of it. (the flavors of cinnamon and bay leaf would have seeped in).
Heat the saucepan again and add two tablespoons of butter along with two tablespoons of groundnut oil. When it starts to melt, plop in a tablespoon of ginger garlic paste and when it becomes fragrant strew in a teaspoon of red chili powder and coriander powder each. Also add a quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder.Stir in with one or two slit green chilies and sprinkle the required amount of salt. Get the whole thing done in low flame to retain the absolute flavor of it.
At this stage add the fresh peas and keep stirring for a while. Pop the lid on for a minute or to so that it softens. Now open the lid and squirt in the blended paste to it. Add a little more salt only if you feel necessary and slowly add a quarter liter of full fat milk little by little while stirring. Add a little water only if it is necessary and mostly you make not require at all.
Add the measured quantities of powdered rock candy,(rock candy is a healthy alternative for sugar) cumin powder and garam masala and let the whole mixture gets cooked for about five to seven minutes in low flame.
When the masala gets fragrant, gently squeeze out the paneer cubes and plop in. Gently stir along and pop the lid on for a minute or two. When the aroma starts wafting out from the masala and reaches the desired consistency, turn off the flame.
Note: You can also saute the paneer in a saucepan with a little ghee, butter or oil either partially golden or golden brown and add it to the masala, depending upon your calorie need. In any method, matar paneer tastes supergood and delicious.
Take out the lid and garnish with a dash of lemon, some tiny bits of coriander leaves and a sqeeze of fresh cream. Serve hot with any type of roti or rice along with a glass of aam panna.