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Loading...Making Indian restaurant-style Matar paneer is now possible at home. Whenever we visit a restaurant, there’s one thing we talk about. How do they make such tasty food? What spices do they add to make the food so delicious?
Why Restaurant Food Tastes Better?
I found out why restaurant food tastes different from home-cooked food. You will be surprised to read the answer.
Okay, so let me tell you that the restaurant people do no special thing to make your food tasty. They use the same spices and use the same vegetables as you use in your kitchen. The only different thing is the cooking style.
Yup, it all depends on how you saute your spices. In addition, what things you put first and what in the last. All these heavily impacts the taste, texture, aroma & colour of your dish.
The recipe I am sharing today is restaurant-style Matar paneer, aka peas paneer sabzi.
Tips to Make Better Matar Paneer
- Green Masala – Ginger, garlic, green chilli & coriander are the green masala we will use in the matar paneer sabzi. Ginger, garlic and chilli will give the required spiciness to the curry.
- Vegetables – Since matar paneer is a North Indian recipe using onions & tomatoes combo is the default. Adding them will give you a mix of ripe & tangy flavour. In this recipe, onions, tomato and green peas are the base ingredients.
- Indian Masala/Spices – Dry red chilli, cumin seeds, gram flour, red chilli, turmeric & coriander-cumin powder are Indian masala that will go into the matar paneer sabzi. Gram flour, aka besan, will make the gravy thick. This is what restaurants do.
- Butter or Oil – One can make Matar paneer with butter or ghee. Butter or ghee is used to saute the masala. Use anyone depending on your taste.
- Paneer aka Indian Cottage Cheese – Now that we are making Matar paneer, the Indian cottage cheese, aka paneer, is the star ingredient. Either use a dairy paneer or the one made at home. Anyone will do.
- Water – Monitor the quantity of water. The texture of your gravy depends on how much water you use. Too much will make the gravy watery. And too little will make it dry and extra thick.
Restaurant-style
The matar paneer recipe includes a crucial step. It’s making a thick paste out of green masala. Saute all the green masala in cooking oil with onion. Once it changes the texture & colour, put off the flame. Allow the mixture to cool down to room temperature and then grind it.
Doing this will give you a thick orange paste. That’s our gravy base. Keep it aside to use later on.
The secret to making restaurant-style Matar Paneer is in the gravy. Once your gravy is prepared, rest all is sorted.
The next step is to make the matar paneer gravy. Now to make typical restaurant-style gravy, we will use besan, aka gram flour. The gram flour has to be thoroughly roasted in hot oil. When the gram flour changes its colour, add the masala and saute them.
Now add the orange paste, water & green peas—cover and cook for 10 minutes. Here you can use boiled green peas to reduce the cooking time. Finally, add paneer, cook for 5-7 minutes and serve hot.
