Indulge In Dhaba-Style Matar Paneer That You Can Make At Home

Dhaba is a popular North Indian term which means restaurants or eateries on the highway. These restaurants are ideal to have lip-smacking food without any fuss or fancy plating. If you are travelling then eating some flavourful dishes in these roadside restaurants is a must. There are many dishes that are served at these local eating joints. One of the delicious dishes is Matar Paneer. It is a thick and spicy Indian curry packed with paneer and green peas. This recipe is so easy to prepare and is ordered by every other family in these restaurants

Here’s the recipe for Matar Paneer.

Cooking time: 45 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 500 gm paneer (cut into cubes)
  • ½ cup fresh green peas
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped tomato
  • 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 2 green chilies sliced
  • 4 tbsp mustard oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp degi mirch powder or Kashmiri lal mirch powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp besan

Method

  • In the first step, take tomatoes and cut each tomato into 4 pieces. 
  • Now, grind them in a mixer to form a fine paste. Once done, leave them aside. 
  • Next, put the gram flour in a pan over a low flame. 
  • Cook them until aromatic and golden. Once done, leave it for a while.
  • Heat mustard oil in a pan on a medium flame till it starts smoking. 
  • Once it starts smoking, reduce the heat to low and fry the paneer cubes in it until they turn crisp and golden from both sides. 
  • Transfer them to a tissue and set them aside for some time.
  • Next, add a bay leaf to the pan and fry for a few seconds.
  • Now, add the chopped onion and cook on a low flame until they turn golden brown. 
  • Next, put ginger followed by garlic paste. Fry them for approximately 3-5 mins.
  • Once done, add the tomato paste. Fry all the ingredients till the masala starts leaving the sides of the pan. It will take around 8-10 mins.
  • Now, put red chilli powder in 2 tablespoons of water and add it to the masala.
  • Put turmeric powder, peas, roasted gram flour and coriander powder as well. Once done, stir all the ingredients for a while.
  • Add approximately 1 cup of water to the end and cover the pan with a lid.
  • Allow the curry to simmer over a low flame for approximately 10-12 minutes.
  • Next, put the paneer cubes, garam masala, green chilli and salt. Mix all the ingredients nicely.
  • Once done, simmer the curry for a few minutes. Switch off the flame once it thickens.
  • Garnish the dish with fresh coriander leaves
  • The dhaba-style Matar Paneer is ready to be served hot with naan or paratha

Points to remember

  • Use the best quality ripe and red tomatoes to prepare the gravy.
  • Use either Kashmiri red chilli powder or degi mirch powder.
  • Always dissolve red chilli powder in water before putting it into the masala to bring a nice colour to the curry.
  • Mustard oil or ghee is essential to add to prepare the dhaba-style rich gravy for this recipe.
  • You can also add paneer without frying them as per your preference.