Methi Malai Matar
Fenugreek leaves and peas in a pale cashew and onion gravy, kept white on purpose and finished with cream off the heat.
- Prep
- 20m
- Cook
- 30m
- Total
- 50m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Moderate
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 2 | Blend to a smooth, pale paste 6m Blend for longer than you think. Grit in the cashew shows up as a sandy gravy. | Fry the onion and cashew paste in ghee without letting it take colour 12m Low heat and constant stirring. Any browning here and the whole point of the dish is lost. | Simmer the methi and peas in the white gravy until the raw edge is gone 15m Fifteen minutes on a low flame. The fenugreek needs it, the peas do not, so add them halfway. | Stir in the cream off the heat and warm it through without letting it boil 4m Boiling cream in an acidic pan is how a smooth gravy turns grainy. | |
| 1/3 cup | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 3cm piece | |||||
| 4 cloves | |||||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| 3 tbsp | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 3cm piece | |||||
| 1/2 tsp | |||||
| 1 1/4 tsp | |||||
| 4 cups | Salt the chopped fenugreek, squeeze it hard, then blanch 1 minute 8m Two rounds of bitterness removal. Skip them and the gravy fights itself. | ||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| to cover | |||||
| 1 1/2 cups | |||||
| 1/2 cup | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1/3 cup | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
-
Blend to a smooth, pale paste
6m- onions 2
- cashew nuts 1/3 cup
- green chillies 3
- ginger 3cm piece
- garlic 4 cloves
- water 1/2 cup
Blend for longer than you think. Grit in the cashew shows up as a sandy gravy.
-
Fry the onion and cashew paste in ghee without letting it take colour
12m- from 1 Blend to a smooth, pale paste
- ghee 3 tbsp
- green cardamom 4
- cloves 3
- cinnamon 3cm piece
- white pepper 1/2 tsp
- salt 1 1/4 tsp
Low heat and constant stirring. Any browning here and the whole point of the dish is lost.
-
Salt the chopped fenugreek, squeeze it hard, then blanch 1 minute
8m- fresh fenugreek leaves 4 cups
- salt 1 tsp
- boiling water to cover
Two rounds of bitterness removal. Skip them and the gravy fights itself.
-
Simmer the methi and peas in the white gravy until the raw edge is gone
15m- from 2 Fry the onion and cashew paste in ghee without letting it take colour
- from 3 Salt the chopped fenugreek, squeeze it hard, then blanch 1 minute
- green peas 1 1/2 cups
- whole milk 1/2 cup
- caster sugar 1 tsp
Fifteen minutes on a low flame. The fenugreek needs it, the peas do not, so add them halfway.
-
Stir in the cream off the heat and warm it through without letting it boil
4m- from 4 Simmer the methi and peas in the white gravy until the raw edge is gone
- double cream 1/3 cup
- dried fenugreek leaves 1 tsp
Boiling cream in an acidic pan is how a smooth gravy turns grainy.
Keeping a white gravy white
Almost every Indian gravy starts by browning onions, which is where the colour and the sweetness come from. This one deliberately refuses that. Boiling the onions before blending removes their sulphurous bite without any Maillard browning, and frying the paste over low heat cooks out the rawness while staying below the temperature at which sugars caramelise. No tomato, no chilli powder, no turmeric. The heat comes from green chillies and white pepper, which contribute none of their own colour.
Notes
- Salting and squeezing the methi draws out most of the bitter compounds. The brief blanch takes the rest.
- Add a spoonful of milk if the gravy tightens. Water flattens it.
- Kasuri methi at the end is not a duplicate of the fresh leaves. It is a different, toastier smell entirely.