Methi Matar Malai is the perfect Indian curry to welcome Spring. Methi greens are a winter vegetable in most parts of India. Luckily, they are available all year round in Pune. This is one of those curries which have sadly metamorphosed into a sweet, white glop in most restaurants. Well, not any more.
I know it’s been a while since I blogged about any recipe. Life just takes over sometimes. Other times it’s ants coming out of the woodwork. We had a massive outage that lasted almost a week, and you may have encountered a 404 error if you tried visiting the blog at that time. The issue seems to be resolved, finally. Let’s hope we don’t see any more of that for a long time. All in a day’s work for a blogger 🙂.
Methi or fenugreek greens are bitter. That is their identity, and people love them for it. But they could be an acquired taste. Fenugreek seeds have plenty of medicinal value and are widely used in Indian cooking in recipes such as this Daal Methya. They are available in frozen form in Indian grocery stores in the US. You can stock them up and use them multiple times. Fresh greens are available in Asian stores in big cities.
This is a mild and creamy dish. The cream offsets some of the bitterness, but the taste will still be bitter. The bitterness also varies from batch to batch. Most restaurant preparations now add Mawa or Khoya, tons of sugar and cream and use the fenugreek greens almost as a garnish. My recipe for Methi Matar Malai highlights the methi and the matar. The malai or cream is totally optional.Another
This dish is green in color and does not use turmeric. Adding turmeric will change the color of the dish so please refrain from using it here.
Other than the cream used at the end, this recipe is vegan. You can use coconut cream instead if you like, although that will present an entirely different flavor profile.
Serve this curry with Roti or Nan bread or some rice for a fiber rich, meatless meal any day of the week.
Methi Matar Malai Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups fenugreek greens, chopped
- 2 cups sweet peas or green peas
- 1-2 medium onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 inch piece ginger
- ¼ cup cashews
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1-2 tsp sugar or more
- Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 Tbsp oil
- Salt to taste
Method
- Wash the fenugreek greens, soak in water and get rid of all the grime. Chop finely and set aside.
- Chop the onion, garlic and ginger. Add these to a pot along with cashews and cover with water. Bring to a boil until softened. Cool completely.
- Blend the cooked onion, garlic etc. to get a smooth spice paste.
- Heat oil in a wok.
- Add the blended spice paste and cook on medium heat until most of the water evaporates.
- Add chopped fenugreek greens and mix well.
- Cover with a lid and cook, stirring frequently.
- When greens reduce in size and darken, add in the pepper, garam masala and salt.
- Add green peas, cover and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
- Now add cream, stir through and switch off heat.
- Serve hot with roti, nan or rice.
Another methi recipe you might want to try is my Methi Daal. Looking for more mildly spiced Indian curries? Try my Malai Kofta recipe or Butter Paneer recipe.
