This recipe for rich and creamy Methi Matar Malai will help you prepare the dish better than any restaurant! It's made with fresh fenugreek leaves, green peas, cashews, and Indian spices.
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Matar malai methi recipe is known for its combination of mildly sweet, spicy, and mild bitterness taste in each serving. Ideally served with a choice of Indian flatbread like roti, chapati, or Naan, it is one of the common entrees you find in restaurants.
It’s not just creamy, smooth, delicious, but also nutritious with fenugreek leaves and green peas. This recipe will turn out so good, it will taste even better than the Matar methi malai served in restaurants. Unlike the original methi mutter malai, this is a vegan and gluten-free recipe.
Methi mutter malai recipe can be made in flat 30 minutes if you have the fenugreek leaves ready and chopped. With the natural sweetness from cashews, this is by far the best kids-approved curry!
Ingredients
Ingredients notes
Methi leaves: Use fresh, washed leaves before chopping them.
Cashews: For this vegan version, soaked cashew is a must to get the creamy texture. You can even use soaked almonds for this recipe.
Tomato paste: The addition of tomato paste gives a nice aroma and flavor to the curry on top of the bright red color. But feel free to skip it if you don’t have tomato paste. Or use 1 chopped tomatoes
Check my recipe card for other ingredients that you will need for this recipe.
How to make this recipe
Place a pan over medium heat, add 2 teaspoon oil. When the oil heats up add cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start to sizzle add cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon sticks. Continue to saute for 30 sec.
Add the chopped onion, chopped green chilies, grated ginger, and chopped garlic one by one, and continue to saute until onions turn translucent. Switch off the heat and add the soaked cashews and mix well. Let it cool. After it cools down, blend it into a smooth paste. If required, add ¼ cup water.
Place the same pan over medium heat and add 2 teaspoon oil and start to saute the methi leaves. Saute for 1 minute. Then add the blended paste. Cook for 1 minute. Then add salt and tomato paste. Mix well.
Add frozen peas and 1 cup water. Let it cook for another 5 minutes.
As it starts to thicken, add garam masala powder and let it boil. You will get a nice and creamy gravy. As the last step, garnish with cilantro. Enjoy Methi Matar Malai with chapati or roti.
Recipe FAQs
Methi matar malai recipe is a popular north Indian dish made using fresh fenugreek leaves. This is an original non-vegan curry. But I made a variation to make it a vegan methi matar malai dish.
Methi translates to fenugreek in English. Likewise, methi leaves are leaves from the fenugreek plant.
Matar translates to green peas. You could use fresh or frozen for this recipe. The sweeter they are, the better the dish will turn out to be.
Expert tips
- Use soaked cashews (15 minutes in warm water) or soaked almonds for a vegan version of ‘Malai’
- If you feel methi leaves are too bitter. Rinse them in saltwater 2 times and squeeze them.
- Sauteing the leaves will enhance the curry flavor.
- The use of cashew cream or a top layer of canned coconut milk is an alternative for cashews.
- If you are using almonds, soak them and peel the skin of the nuts before using them.
- If the methi malai matar turns too thick for your preference, add ¼ cup more water while cooking.
If you like methi matar masala then why not try this recipes:
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📖 Recipe
Methi Matar Malai
Equipment
Process Shot
Check above for step-by-step pictures (most of my recipes include pictures)
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped methi leaves
- ½ cup frozen peas or fresh
- 4 teaspoon oil
- 1 red onion
- 2 green chilies
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ cup cashews - soaked
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ inch ginger
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 2 green cardamom
- 2 clove spice
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- 1 cup water
- 1½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Place a pan over medium heat, add 2 teaspoon oil. When the oil heats up add cumin seeds. When cumin seeds start to sizzle add cloves, cardamom, and cinnamon sticks. Continue to saute for 30 sec.
- Add the chopped onion, chopped green chilies, grated ginger, and chopped garlic one by one, and continue to saute until onions turn translucent. Switch off the heat and add the soaked cashews and mix well. Let it cool. After it cools down, blend it into a smooth paste. If required, add ¼ cup water.
- Place the same pan over medium heat and add 2 teaspoon oil and start to saute the methi leaves. Saute for 1 minute. Then add the blended paste. Cook for 1 minute. Then add salt and tomato paste. Mix well.
- Add frozen peas and 1 cup water. Let it cook for another 5 minutes. As it starts to thicken, add garam masala powder and let it boil. You will get a nice and creamy gravy. As the last step, garnish with cilantro. Enjoy Methi Matar Malai with chapati or roti.
Notes
- Use soaked cashews (15 minutes in warm water) or soaked almonds for a vegan version of ‘Malai’
- If you feel methi leaves are too bitter. Rinse them in saltwater 2 times and squeeze them.
- Sauteing the leaves will enhance the curry flavor.
- The use of cashew cream or a top layer of canned coconut milk is an alternative for cashews.
- If you are using almonds, soak them and peel the skin of the nuts before using them.
- If the methi malai matar turns too thick for your preference, add ¼ cup more water while cooking.
YOUR OWN NOTES
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimation only.
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