Green Peas Masala / Matar Masala / Mutter Masala

Green peas and sweetcorn have a permanent place in my freezer. Be it a dish or snack, both turn very handy to prepare any quick dish. So, I always stock them. Being in India, It is difficult to keep frozen peas and sweetcorn for a long time run due the frequent power cuts. So I stopped buying frozen peas for now and started using the fresh peas.

This gravy is prepared at my home for more than seven years. To be specific, I started making this dish from the time I bought Nita Mehta’s cook book. 🙂 Whenever fresh green peas are abundant, I always buy and make this gravy which goes very well with roti.

Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

For Grinding:

Red onion – 2 nos., medium size

Tomato – 3 nos., medium size

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Garlic – 3 cloves

Black cardamom – 1 no.

Cloves – 2 nos.

For Gravy:

Green peas – 1 and 1/4 cups, fresh or frozen

Oil –  1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds – 1/2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder – 2 teaspoons

Coriander powder – 2 teaspoons

Garam masala – 1/4 teaspoon

Turmeric Powder – a big pinch

Salt – to taste

Thick yogurt/ curd – 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup, beaten well

Water – 2 cups

Lemon juice – few drops, optional

Method:

1) Grind all the ingredients given under  ‘for grinding’ and make it into a smooth paste.

2) Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and allow it to splutter

3) Add the ground paste and use half cup of water to rinse the jar and add to the pan. Mix well.

4) Cook till the gravy becomes thick and oil stars oozing out.

5) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well.

6) Fry for 3 minutes. Add remaining water and bring it to a nice boil.

7) Add yogurt and green peas when the gravy is slightly thick. Simmer till the gravy becomes thick and green so that the peas is cooked well.

8) Serve hot with Roti.

Notes:

1) The original recipe form the cookbook uses amchoor powder which I skipped here. Instead I have added lemon juice. You can choose any of these two as per your taste.