Matar Paneer is a north Indian restaurant-style dish of green peas in a spicy, beautifully flavored tomato onion sauce. My vegan recipe uses tofu to stand in for the paneer, making this a healthier and tastier version all at once. This is a gluten-free and nut-free recipe.
You might also enjoy these recipes for Indian-restaurant-style dishes like bhindi masala, baingan bharta and chana masala.
Green peas rarely get to shine as the lead in most dishes where they appear, but here's one classic instance where they get to headline the show with their name in marquee lights: Matar Paneer (pronounced "mutter" paneer).
Sure, there's paneer here jostling for attention, but it doesn't quite succeed, does it? The peas, with their unique texture and hints of sweetness, dominate the eater's palate, and who would want to change that?
The paneer--tofu in this case--is nothing more than a welcome sideshow. But it's a delicious one at that, and so is the brick-red sauce, subtly spiced but with lots of tomato-onion flavor.
You can make this dish with my Tomato Onion Masala Sauce, and it'd take you just minutes to pull it together in that case. But even if you start from scratch, it is not a lengthy nor difficult recipe to make.
More Indian curries with tofu paneer
Recipe card
Matar Paneer with Tofu
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1-2 black cardamom pods (crushed until the pod splits with seeds still inside)
- 1 large onion (pureed or very finely grated)
- 3 medium tomatoes (pureed)
- 1 tbsp (heaping) ginger garlic paste (make this by blending or crushing 3-4 cloves garlic and a 1-inch piece of ginger)
- 1 tbsp (heaping) ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne (or paprika for less heat)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2-4 teaspoon garam masala (use more or less per your taste)
- 12 oz green peas (not sweet peas; use peas that are not too sweet because they will make your dish sweet, which is not quite the effect you're going for)
- 14 oz super-firm tofu/high-protein tofu (or extra firm tofu, pressed. Dice the tofu into ½-inch cubes)
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon cilantro (for garnish)
- Wedges of lemon for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil. Add the crushed cardamom and bay leaf, and as they start to darken and become fragrant, add the pureed onions.
- Cook the onions with some salt, stirring frequently, until they brown, then add in the tomatoes and ginger garlic paste and continue sauteeing until the tomatoes are darker and most of the liquid has evaporated. If using fresh green peas, add at this time.
- Add the powdered spices--coriander, turmeric, cayenne or paprika, and garam masala and continue to saute a couple more minutes. Add 3 cups water, salt to taste, and bring to a boil, and let it simmer until the peas are tender.
- (If using the tomato onion masala sauce: Puree two cups of the tomato onion masala sauce. After heating the oil and adding the cardamom and bay leaf, add the sauce, and once it comes to a boil, add the powdered spices, then water as in step 3, and proceed as follows. You can taste and add some more garam masala if you like.)
- If using frozen peas, add them after the sauce comes to a boil. Add the tofu cubes and mix well and let the sauce continue to simmer another five minutes for all flavors to meld. Check salt and add more if needed.
- Serve hot, garnished with cilantro and with the lemon wedges on the side.
Nutrition Information
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Kumar om says
Hi Vaishali,
Indeed a very tasty dish, my son loves paneer and I was wondering in what different ways I could make paneer dishes. I made a dish with the masala suggested in this mattar paneer recipe. I did not add the mattar as my son does not like mattar. Did a bit of variation, cooked in a kadai, added malai and milk to make a thick gravy, and grated some paneer in the end. Lip smacking taste, my son loved it, thank you!
O.V. says
Hi, the term "brown cardamum" is a little confusing, since pretty much all cookbooks I've seen out there talt about either black cardamum (which is dark brown) or green cardamum?
Vaishali says
Black cardamom is what some call brown cardamom--it is brown, as you point out, so not sure why. 🙂 It has a deeper more smokey flavor and is usually best in curries in a small quantity--you'd rarely use more than one unless cooking large batches. Green cardamom has a much more delicate flavor and fragrance. Although indispensible in spicy curries, it is also used in lots of Indian sweets, especially the powdered seeds. Hope that helps. 🙂
BARBARA says
This dish was great. I loved it. I'm not vegan but I don't eat dairy and had wanted to have some Paneer for quite some time. It was a great blend of spices and easy to prepare. I used one can of diced tomatoes as I did not have fresh tomatoes available and it tasted fine.
All your recipes I've tried have been great. I appreciate your web site and starring your wonderful recipes.
Vaishali says
So happy to hear, Barbara!
Sheldon says
I really love the content and the recipes. It would be really helpful if you could also post step by step pictures for the recipe, they really help to follow the recipe accurately.
Alicia Massie-Legg says
If I substitute the tomato onion masala for some of the onions, tomatoes, and spices in this recipe, how much should I use?
Vaishali says
2 cups! It should be in the recipe instructions.
Sharon says
I really appreciate the cultural information that you instill on this website...as well as the delicious recipes, with suggested substitutions. I admire your service, and enjoy expanding my palate and cooking repertoire! It's a wonderful way for those of us who don't subscribe completely to any particular dietary format, to widen our nutritional variations at home!
As I do believe in the value of fermented foods, I will try this recipe with tempeh...and appreciate your warning about how it may change the taste.