A simple recipe for a rich and creamy fenugreek and peas curry or gravy, popularly known as methi matar malai. Pair it with any Indian flatbread or rice for a delicious meal.
After tomato pickle and zucchini soup, I am happy to share another recipe with my backyard produce. Backyard gardening is my favorite past time. This year, I resorted to gardening more than before to keep me sane. Nothing makes me happy than harvesting fresh produce and cooking with the same.
Methi or fenugreek leaves are something that we grow regularly. I have already shared methi pulav and vendiya keerai kuzhambu (Tamil word for methi). So this time, I decided to make this methi malai matar.
Methi means fenugreek leaves, malai means cream and matar is peas. It’s a delicious North Indian curry with the goodness of fenugreek and peas in a creamy sauce. Are you wondering why this combination? Fenugreek leaves are bitter, and the sweetness from the peas and cream balances it out, and the cashews and poppy seeds add the extra creamy texture.
The flavor is so amazing that I can’t just explain it with words. It’s a mild and creamy curry that pairs well with paratha, roti, and jeera rice also. Even though we add 2 cups of fenugreek leaves, it’s not very bitter. Still, you can always cut down on methi leaves according to your taste preference. Add atleast 1 to 1.5 cups of methi for this curry. You can always add more cream to balance the flavor. Check the recipe notes for various options.
Prepping ahead always helps. Once you have the fenugreek leaves cleaned and destemmed, you can make this methi matar malai quickly. Now let me share how to make it.
How to make methi matar malai?
So we first prepare the base spice paste with onion, green chilies whole spices, cashews, and poppy seeds. We don’t need any tomatoes or red chilies or other spice powders for this recipe. We then cook the spice paste and add the three ingredients one by one – methi/fenugreek, then matar/peas, and malai/cream.
Prepare the spice paste-
- Soak the poppy seeds and cashews in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes.
- Parallelly you can saute the onions and whole spices.
- In a pan, heat 2 tsps of oil and when the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, green chilies, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. (You can first add the whole spices and cook for 30 seconds and then add the onions. But during weekdays, I just add them all together)
- Saute until the onion is soft and light brown like below. It takes about 7 to 8 minutes over medium heat. Allow it to cool.
- Transfer the sauteed onion mixture and ginger-garlic paste (see notes) into a mixer jar or spice grinder. Drain the water from the soaked cashews and poppy seeds and add that as well.
- Grind into a smooth paste by adding 1/4 cup of water. Rinse the mixer jar with 1/4 more cup of water and set it aside.
Prepare the curry-
- In a pan, add the remaining 2 tsps of oil. I used the same pan that I used for sauteing the onions. When the oil is hot, add the ground paste.
- Add the reserved 1/4 cup of water and salt and mix well.
- Cook this ground paste for 5 to 8 minutes or until it becomes semi-thick. Make sure to stir in-between and do not leave it unattended.
- Now add the fenugreek leaves and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Next, add the peas and cook for a couple of minutes.
- Finally, add the cream and mix. Simmer over low heat for two minutes and turn off the heat.
- Garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with roti or any other Indian flatbread.
Recipe Notes-
- As we are using fenugreek leaves, the curry might be slightly on the bitter side. You can adjust the cream accordingly. Also, you can add a tsp of sugar to balance the bitterness.
- I used frozen peas. If you are using dried peas, soak it overnight and pressure cook it. Or if you are using fresh ones, microwave it for 5 minutes to fasten the cooking process.
- Adjust the green chilies and salt according to your preference.
- I don’t add additional garam masala for this curry. I add 1/4 tsp towards the end as a garnish. But you can add up to 1/2 tsp while making the curry.
- You can add fresh ginger and garlic. Approx 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 inch ginger piece can be used. Saute them along with the onion.
- If you are using ginger garlic paste-like me, you can add it along with onions and saute it. As we cook the ground paste again, I added it while grinding.
- Instead of heavy cream, you can use whole milk or reduced-fat milk for a healthier option. Or you can use almond milk for a vegan version.
Other gravies and side dishes for roti-
- Paneer butter masala
- Goan mushroom curry
- Baingan bharta
- Zucchini kofta curry
- Bharwan gatte
- Yellow paneer curry
- Shahi Paneer
- Vegan tofu curry
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Methi Matar Malai | Creamy Fenugreek and Peas Curry
Equipment
- Saucepan or kadai
- Mixer jar or coffee grinder
Ingredients
Measurement Details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;
To soak-
- 10 grams cashews
- 2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1/2 cup of water
For the curry-
- 4 tsps oil, divided
- 250 grams onion chopped
- 2 green chilies broken into two
- 3 cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 1- inch cinnamon
- 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
- 1.25 tsp salt or to taste
- 60 grams fenugreek leaves approx 2.25 cups tightly packed. Cleaned and stems removed and roughly chopped
- 1 cup peas frozen (thaw it to room temperature)
- 3/4 cup water divided
- 1/3 cup heavy cream refer notes
- 1/4 tsp garam masala to garnish
- 1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped to garnish
Instructions
Prepare the spice paste-
- Soak the poppy seeds and cashews in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes.
- Parallelly you can saute the onions and whole spices.
- In a pan, heat 2 tsps of oil and when the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, green chilies, cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. (You can first add the whole spices and cook for 30 seconds and then add the onions. But during weekdays, I just add them all together)
- Saute until the onion is soft and light brown like below. It takes about 7 to 8 minutes over medium heat. Allow it to cool.
Grind the sauteed ingredients-
- Transfer the sauteed onion mixture and ginger-garlic paste (see notes) into a mixer jar or spice grinder. Drain the water from the soaked cashews and poppy seeds and add that as well. Grind into a smooth paste by adding 1/4 cup of water. Rinse the mixer jar with 1/4 more cup of water and set it aside.
Prepare the curry-
- In a pan, add the remaining 2 tsps of oil. I used the same pan that I used for sauteing the onions. When the oil is hot, add the ground paste.
- Add the reserved 1/4 cup of water and salt and mix well.
- Cook this ground paste for 5 to 8 minutes or until it becomes semi-thick. Make sure to stir in-between and do not leave it unattended.
- Now add the fenugreek leaves and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Next, add the peas and cook for a couple of minutes. Finally, add the cream and mix. Simmer over low heat for two minutes and turn off the heat.
- Garnish it with cilantro and serve hot with roti or any other Indian flatbread.
Notes
- As we are using fenugreek leaves, the curry might be slightly on the bitter side. You can adjust the cream accordingly. Also, you can add a tsp of sugar to balance the bitterness.
- I used frozen peas. If you are using dried peas, soak it overnight and pressure cook it. Or if you are using fresh ones, microwave it for 5 minutes to fasten the cooking process.
- Adjust the green chilies and salt according to your preference.
- I don't add additional garam masala for this curry. I add 1/4 tsp towards the end as a garnish. But you can add up to 1/2 tsp while making the curry.
- You can add fresh ginger and garlic. Approx 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 inch ginger piece can be used. Saute them along with the onion.
- If you are using ginger garlic paste-like me, you can add it along with onions and saute it. As we cook the ground paste again, I added it while grinding.
- Instead of heavy cream, you can use whole milk or reduced-fat milk for a healthier option. Or you can use almond milk for a vegan version.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2015 but now updated with new pics, and recipe cards.
