Mushroom Matar, or mushrooms and peas in a creamy onion, tomato and cashew sauce, is a staple of Indian restaurant menus. But this creamy, spicy, saucy dish is just as easy to put together quickly in your own kitchen. Serve it hot with rice or rotis. Vegan, gluten-free, soy-free recipe, free of added oils. Can be nut-free.
If you've read this blog before, you probably know of my weakness for saucy mushroom dishes. It's a love that was kindled way back in childhood, when my father would bring wild mushrooms back with him from trips to his birthplace in south India, and my stepmother would cook them in a delicious sauce whose taste is impossible for me to forget.
Not that I want to. In fact, I've since made different versions of saucy mushroom curries and I've loved each one of them.
This Mushroom Matar is my latest foray into making a delicious curry to soak up with a roti or even a crusty bread. Rice is great too!
While my mom's Mushroom Curry would have taken hours to make, with the careful grinding of spices and slow cooking that made her recipes so special, my much quicker version takes only 30 minutes, and it's delicious too. Better still it's free of all added oils, with the only fat in this recipe coming from a handful of cashew nuts.
The sauce for this Mushroom Matar is dreamy: it is not just creamy and smooth, it has complex notes from the cayenne, garam masala, onions, and tomatoes. One bite and you'll be begging for more.
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Try these curries next:
Instant Pot Vegan Butter Chicken with Tofu
20-minute Best Vegetable Curry
Easy Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas and Coconut Milk
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Mushroom Matar, Mushrooms and Peas in a Creamy Sauce (One Pot, 30 minutes, Oil Free)
Ingredients
- ¾ lb crimini mushrooms, sliced. (If you have wild mushrooms, feel free to use those-- they'll be delicious here)
- 1 cup frozen green peas
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes, diced
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp cayenne (or any red chili powder)
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) Optional, but nice
- ¼ cup cashews (If you want to make this nut-free, use ¼ cup canned coconut milk)
- 1 heaping tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp vegan cane sugar
- Ground black pepper and salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat a saucepan and add the onion and garlic to it. Add 2 tbsp water and saute the onion and garlic over medium heat until the onions soften and start to change color, about five minutes.
- Add the tomatoes along with the coriander powder, cumin powder, cayenne, turmeric and kasoori methi. Stir well, cover, and cook for 5 minutes or until the tomatoes are very soft and mushy. Stir in the cashew nuts and turn off the heat.
- Let the onions and tomatoes cool slightly, then add a cup of cold water and use an immersion blender to blend to a smooth consistency or transfer to a blender and blend into a very smooth paste. Use caution. When blending hot liquids, I fill the blender only halfway, remove the blender's center insert and hold a kitchen towel over the top, and then blend. This keeps steam from building up inside the blender which could blow the lid off.
- Rinse the saucepan and place over the stove over medium heat. Add the mushrooms to the pan along with a little salt and pepper. Stir-fry the mushrooms in the dry pan until they begin to caramelize, about three to four minutes. Add the peas and cover until peas are cooked, which should take no more than two to three minutes.
- Add the blended sauce to the pan and give it a good stir. Add the garam masala and check if more salt is needed. Add water if the sauce looks too dry. Stir in the sugar.
- Heat through and once the mixture comes to a boil, turn it off. Garnish with coriander, if you wish, or serve as is.
Nutrition
Hello! I was looking to find some good vegetables witch may the best accompaign pearl muschrooms and onion and where the vest look for if not in Indian kitchen! With beas.. Sounds really suitable, its gonna be my first try! The only thing after reading all was not clear to me: naam or rice? Thank You!
It came out pretty good .. Thanks for sharing ..
Awesome!
I made this it was good but didn’t look like yours. I left out the cashews and coconut milk. So mine wasn’t creamy like yours. I’m guessing this is the reason, what do you think?
Yes, it won't be creamy without the cashews and coconut milk.
Can we use normal milk cream to replace coconut milk?
Actually it turned out finger licking good!!!
Awesome recipe..
Great to hear!
Actually it turned out finger licking good!!!
Awesome recipe.. thanks for sharing
Hello
I love this your recipes. I made this with your tomato onion sauce. I used 2 cup to replace the onion, tomato and first set of spices. I added the turmeric, more cayenne and the garam masala. It worked really well.
Thank you for your blog
Thanks, Jenny, for letting me know--so happy you loved it!
This became the food we are dreaming about at night if we do not make it for longer than 2 weeks. Thank you so much for sharing. Incredibly delicious!
😀 Odri, that's so awesome to hear!!
Do you use raw or roasted cashews?
Raw.
So good and freezes really well!
Thanks, Emily! 🙂
Loved this dish, although I'm not vegan quite often make dishes using just vegetables, particularly is spices are included in recipe. Thankyou so much.
Judy, so great to hear, thanks for letting me know! 🙂
It's one of the best mushroom mutter recipes I have tried so far. A couple of modifications that I made that worked for me -
1. I did not have cashews, so I added 2 tbsp cream instead.
2. I soaked the diced mushroom in boiled water for 15 min before sauteing. The flavor of the gravy went right into the mushroom and they remained succulent.
Great ideas, Ritz--thanks for sharing!
Tried it today..came out really good...Thanks for the tasty receipe
So happy to hear, Vijaya!
Can I use ground fenugreek and if so, how much?
Hi Amy, the flavor of ground fenugreek is very different from that of fenugreek leaves and quite bitter. I would suggest you leave it out altogether if you can't find fenugreek leaves.
Saru
This sauce/gravy was amazing. I’ve tried many recipes, but this is by far the best. Planning to make a double batch This weekend, to have on hand. Thank you for so much for sharing this.
Emma, that's lovely to hear!
Very nice recipe. My kids and I cook every sat/sunday. This was fun. Turned out really well. Am trying to get them used to some spices. This was just right. Thanks
Hi Ganesh, love that story. 🙂 I am beginning to cook more with my son too and it is so much fun.
Thank you so much for this great recipe. This is my husband's fave dish at our local restaurant and he says this recipe rivals it!
Shannon, that is really lovely to hear. So happy you've both enjoyed the recipe.
Creamy and tasty made in easy steps, liked it very much. Thank you!
Thanks, Susheel. 🙂