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Matar Panner is a simple Paneer curry that goes well with roti or chapati. As peas and panner makes this dish creamy and slightly sweeter in taste, this will be kids friendly recipe for sure. Usually in restaurants this dish is made with tons of cream in it. But this recipe is light and lean with out any cream added and comes with very less calories but with the same great taste. Here is the recipe, Njoy!

Matar Paneer

Ingredients:
Paneer - 1 big block ( 400 g)
Matar (Green Peas) - 1 cup ( i have used frozen Sweet Green Peas)
Butter - 1 Tbsp
Cilantro - 1/2 cup
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp ( optional)

Masala Paste:
Oil - 1 Tbsp
Clove  - 1
Cinnamon - 2 sticks
Onion - 1 medium
Tomato - 2 to 3 ( Cluster Tomatoes)
Green Chili - 1

Preparatory Steps:

• Chop Onions, Tomatoes, Green Chili and set aside. 
• Chop Paneer in 1/2 inch cubic blocks.
• Thaw frozen peas in microwave or outside.

Masala Preparation:

1. Heat non-stick pan and add 1 Tbsp of oil. Once the oil is hot, add panner cubes and sauté them on all sides until they turn slight brown. Take out the panner cubes into a plate and set them aside. 
2. In the same pan, add clove and cinnamon, followed by green chili, onion saute these until onion become translucent ( about 2 min), add chopped tomato now and saute for 2 more min. Let it cool or 5 min, and then grind everything together into coarse paste. 

Method:

1. Heat non-stick pot and add butter to it. Once the butter melts add cumin seeds followed by cilantro. As cilantro starts wilting, add ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder, mix everything together with butter.
2. Now add ground masala paste to the pan and mix it in. Cover with lid and simmer for 3 min.
3. Now add salt, red chili powder, garam masala powder and mix it in gravy. Simmer for 2 more min. Now you will get gravy consistency. If it is thick, add 1/2 of of water to thin the gravy.
4. Add thawed matar (sweet peas) to the gravy and combine well. Close the lid and simmer for 5 min. Taste and adjust salt per your taste. 
5. Add sautéed panner cubes to the gravy and combine well gently, until paneer cubes are coated with gravy. Simmer on high for few more minutes. Switch off the stove, transfer to a bowl and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Roti or Chapati.

Notes:

• If the gravy turns out spicy and you want to soften the taste, you can add the 1 tsp of sugar to the gravy in step #4 right before adding paneer cubes. 
• Since I have used Sweet Peas, they add slight sweet taste, hence I didn't added any sugar in my recipe. 
• If your tomatoes are not juicy and tangy, this curry won't get the same taste. Then you can add 1 tsp of lime juice at the end into gravy, that adds slight tangy taste softening all other spices.
• Adding Cilantro in tempering will get very unique taste to this dish.
• Some recipes suggest pressure cooking for this recipe, I don't prefer that as pressure cooking will take away beautiful green color from peas, hence i suggest you to be patient and cook this dish on stove top.