Note: If you want to skip the hype-splanation, and cut straight to the recipe,  click here or go down to the “Click HERE for more” below….  Also note that I’ve included a plain text and a plain HTML version as well.  I recommend checking back to this page before attempting to cook it, as I plan on updating the recipe from time to time.

It is done.  I have done it.  I have perfected my Mom’s Mattar Paneer recipe!

MattarPaneer.jpg

You don’t know what I’m talking about? You don’t know what mattar paneer is?  You poor, unwashed, heathen.  Wikipedia will tell you that mattar paneer is “is an Indian dish consisting of paneer (cheese) and peas in a sweet and spicy sauce.”

What Wikipedia won’t tell you is:
  • “Mattar” = “Peas”, “Paneer” = “cheese”
  • It’s perhaps the single best dish my Mom makes (& she’s quite a cook!)
  • Paneer is home-made, light, mild, cheese – kinda like a firm cottage cheese, or ricotta cheese in taste (very subtle) and has a texture almost like tofu
  • Arguments over who got the most paneer were the flashpoint for many battles at the dining room table between my brother and I.  Eventually, my parents had to begin a strict equal apportionment scheme to reduce conflict.
  • It is one of my three or four favorite foods.

So you might be thinking “Ok, so it is a recipe, and you can make it.  Nice, but no big deal…”  This suggests you don’t understand that I CAN NOT COOK.  What little cooking skills I have, I have learned in order to make this dish (& a few others like it).  Seriously: Can. Not. Cook. Googled-to-look-up-how-to-boil-eggs-earlier-this-year.

Get it?  And now after years and years of learning and figuring it out, my Mattar Paneer recipe is as good as my mom, Swaran Jawa, makes it.  It’s now officially, crazy + delicious.  I have been attempting this for years…  Many of you have tried it and thought “Oh this is good” – but it hasn’t been – you just didn’t know better.  But now, finally it is legit.  Soooo good.

I should add that to be able to cook something as good as my Mom is huge for me as I still have little common cooking sense.  This means there are probably improvements, simplifications, and twists that you folks will come up that will take me years to figure out – so please put them in the comments and email them my way.  Seriously – it took me literally 2 years of trying this recipe to realize that I could avoid burning the pot by using more oil.  Yep. 2 years.  (And actually, truth be told, I didn’t even realize it – my esteemed sous chef, Bob, figured it out. THANKS BOB)  So feel free to help me learn faster.

Also, I’d like to ask that if you pass this recipe along, just make sure you give credit to my Mom :-) she deserves it!  (Happy Mother’s Day Mom! AND THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP!)

——

A few notes, before we jump into the recipe:

  • The two most interesting parts of this recipe can be purchased from an Indian food store as my Mom likes to remind me.  The gharam masala spice mixture and the paneer.  I say “Mom, if I wanted to buy Indian food, I’d just go to an Indian restaurant!”  But if you are looking to reduce the level of difficulty, those are real options.  I’d say whatever you do, make your own paneer – it is EASY and SOOOO COOL.
  • If you are expecting this to look and taste like mattar paneer you get in most Indian restaurants, you will be disappointed.  And you will deserve a good flogging. I’ve come across very few Indian restaurants that don’t do a lame job of mattar paneer.  They usually skimp on the cheese, and the cheese they do make is not very good.  They also tend to make the base heavy with cream (bleagh) – even the wikipedia picture is this style.  Bleagh.  This is the best version of mattar paneer I know folks & it is not just because it is what I’m used too – most Indians I knew growing up loved my Mom’s version too.
  • This is best served over basmati rice or with naan bread (lightly toasted pita bread is a good naan substitute – the fluffier the better).  I also recommend putting some plain yogurt on it if you are serving it with rice. Yum!
  • This recipe is in 3 parts, and two of these three parts are the key parts to two of my other favorite foods of all time, my Mom’s rajmah (red beans) and my Mom’s masala chicken! Once you get this down, those other recipes are pretty easy.
  • If you can’t do dairy, or are vegan – replace the paneer with tofu.  This is commonly done & quite yummy.  Also if you can’t do tomato sauce* (too acidy for an ex-GF – thanks for all the help Celeste!) you can substitute yogurt – still yummy.
  • I’ve uploaded a few random scattered pictures I’ve taken through the years - they will help you get a sense of what this all should look like.  Hopefully I’ll get around to adding a definitive set someday.
  • I’ll be updating the recipe from time to time, so check back before you attempt it – it may have been improved.  And hopefully, people will leave improvements in the comments.


Swaran Jawa’s Mattar Paneer

This is the latest version of this recipe as of 5/7/10.

Ingredients

  • Onions: 3 normal yellow
  • Vegetable oil: 6 tablespoons
  • Garlic: 4 big cloves
  • Ginger: 1inch chunk
  • Tomato sauce : 15 oz can
  • Frozen peas: 20 oz
  • Whole Milk: 1 Gallon
  • White vinegar: 4 tablespoons

Spices

  • Tumeric: 1/2 tsp
  • Salt: 2 tsp
  • Red pepper: 1/4 tsp
  • Cumin seed: 1/2 TBSP
  • Coriander seeds or ground coriander: 1/2 TBSP
  • Cinnamon sticks: 2 inches of thin sticks or 1 of thick stick
  • Cloves: 4
  • Brown cardamom pods: 2 – (best to get Indian cardamom from Indian food store)
  • Nutmeg: pinch
  • Mace: pinch

Equipment

  • Food processor
  • Spice/coffee grinder
  • Cheesecloth
  • Large cooking pot
  • Large microwave safe bowl
  • Frying pan

Instructions

  1. Combine 2.5 cups of water with 1 unit of masala base (see below) in large pot
  2. Add 20 oz frozen peas
  3. Put on high
  4. Add 2 teaspoons of salt
  5. Add 1/4 teaspoons of red pepper
  6. Cover, leave on medium
  7. At some point when peas are close to done, add 1 heaping TBSP of gharam masala (see below)
  8. When peas are wrinkled/shriveled, the gravy is done – put on low until paneer is ready (see below)
  9. You can add a half cup of water if you want more watery
  10. When the paneer is done (lightly fried) dump it in the gravy, stir it up a little & you’re done!

Masala Base (gravy base)

NOTE: This makes 2 units of the masala gravy base. Save off half in refrigerator or freezer for later use.

  1. Chop up onions really small in food processor (small diced)
  2. Put onions into large pot and add 6 tablespoons oil & turn up to high heat stirring OFTEN to not burn
    • Oil is important to keep the bottom of the pot from becoming a mess of burnt onion.
    • For slower results put on medium heat & stir occasionally
    • If too dry add more oil, can be spooned out later
  3. Chop up garlic cloves & ginger small in processor
  4. Turn down onions to low, keep stirring – note slowly browning
  5. When dark brown put in ginger/garlic mix
  6. Put in 1/2 teaspoon of tumeric
  7. When almost burnt, slowly start adding tomato sauce – keep stirring, waiting for oil to seperate? (spoon off?)
  8. Put a little water in tomato can & slowly pour it in
  9. NOTE you can always put on low & leave for a while at any stage
  10. When deep reddish brown, it is done
  11. USE HALF, REMOVE OTHER HALF & KEEP IN FREEZER FOR SOME OTHER TIME

Gharam Masala (spice mix)

NOTE: This makes 2 heaping TBSP of the spice mix. Save off half with your spices for later use.

  1. Roast 1/2 tablespoon of cumin seed in a pan on the burner for a few minutes
  2. Place the following ingredients in spice blender & grind until fine powder
    • 1/2 tablespoon of roasted cumin seed
    • 1/2 tablespoon of coriander seed
    • 2 inches of cinnamon thin sticks or 1 of thick stick
    • 4 cloves
    • 2 brown cardamoms – break pods & get seeds out (can only get at Indian store)
    • nutmeg & mace (pinch)
  3. Use half of mix (1 heaping tablespoon) for 1 unit of masala base

Paneer (cheese):

  1. Pour 3/4 gallon milk in large bowl (or all if you want more paneer! Yum!)
  2. Microwave for 25-30 to BOIL (there will be a large bubble of air)
  3. Stir in 4 tablespoons of white vinegar
  4. Keep stirring
  5. When cheese separates fully and gets clumpy (& liquid gets yellowish and clear) pour into collander with cheescloth
  6. Squeeze out as much water as possible. The more water you get out, the better your paneer will be.
    • Initially squeeze out the water by hand, twisting the cheesecloth
    • Put the cheesecloth between two plates and squeeze the plates together as hard as you can.
    • Or, if you don’t want to squeeze by hand, use my Mom’s method instead: put cheesecloth between plates & stack books on it for a few hours
  7. When cheese is firm & cohesive it is done – it should not be crumbly! should be like almost like tofu in terms of consistency
  8. Put on a plate and slice into cubes – if it is crumbly, you did not press it enough
  9. Put a few tablespoons of oil in a frying pan at high & then put down to medium low
  10. Drop cheese cubes one by one in at side of pan to lightly fry them
  11. Dry cheese in cloth towel to remove oil
  12. Rinse cheesecloth after use

 

To download this recipe as a text file, click here.  As HTML, click here. Also, do check out the pictures I’ve posted – they should help a bit.



 

 

*As a fascinating aside, I have spent a lot of time wondering how Indians made this before the “discovery” of the New World – because tomatoes (used heavily in Punjabi cooking) are a New World fruit & thus could not have been in India before Columbus.  The biggest clue was when I asked my Mom, she explained that yogurt could be substituted instead of tomato sauce – so my best guess is that in ancient times, this was made with yogurt instead.  Fascinating!