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
Vegan Mango Curry
Railway Mushroom Curry
Easy Vegetable Curry with Chickpeas and Coconut Milk
South Indian Vegetable Curry
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Mushroom Matar, Mushrooms and Peas in a Creamy Sauce (One Pot, 30 minutes, Oil Free)
Ingredients
- 3/4 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
- 1/2 tsp cayenne (or any red chili powder)
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp kasoori methi (dry fenugreek leaves) Optional, but nice
- 1/4 cup cashews (If you want to make this nut-free, use 1/4 cup canned coconut milk)
- 1 heaping tsp garam masala
- 1/2 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
Namrata says
August 2, 2017 atHeyy so cool to see an oil-free recipe 🙂 !! Looks gorgeous. Will definitely try!!
Vaishali says
August 3, 2017 atThanks, Namrata! Hope you try.
DG says
November 7, 2018 atHow the yellow colour comes ?
Adrienne says
August 3, 2017 atWow! Just whipped this up tonight, haven’t even had dinner yet, just waiting for the family to come sit down, but man, it tastes amazing! I threw in some spinach that I had in the fridge. Will definitely keep this recipe!
Vaishali says
August 3, 2017 atAwesome! Thanks for letting me know. Nice idea adding spinach.
Vani says
August 6, 2017 atHi I just made this and wow so good! Made a double batch of the curry sauce to freeze and just add veggies later. Thank you for an awesome recipe!
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atSo glad you liked it, Vani!
Elisa says
September 7, 2017 atHi Vaishali,
Are the cashews processed or left whole?
This looks so good!
Elisa says
September 7, 2017 atHi Vaishali,
I made this for dinner and it was wonderful. I just soaked the cashews for 30 min and then processed them in the blender with some of the water the recipe called for. Thank you so much for posting this recipe, its a little spicy with a hint of sweetness, so awesome 🙂
Kim says
November 2, 2017 atYour site is my favorite for vegan recipes 🙂 Made this last night and it was amazing and so easy, I will be making it again soon.
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atSo happy to hear that Kim!
Nicolette Chartier says
December 1, 2017 atHi Vaishali, I will be making this for the upcoming Columbia MD Forks Over Knives meetup on Sunday. I have never tried it but I know it will be a hit. I may also cook up some Brown Basmati rice to complement it. I love indian spices but am new at how to combine them, thanks for the guidance! My favorite sauce is the type that Rushi restaurant (in Kansas) uses to make its Butter Chicken, I hope this sauce is similar. Of course I will not be putting chicken in it.
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atIt is somewhat similar, although for a more butter-chicken-like sauce, try my tofu makhani sauce. https://holycowvegan.net/tofu-makhani/
Joseph Stewart says
December 10, 2017 atExcellent. I have to agree that the fenugreek leaves were awesome in this. Very spicy, otherwise my wife loved the flavor (just not the heat). This was my first recipe from your blog and I will definitely be trying others.
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atSo happy your wife and you liked it!
Shanti says
January 12, 2018 atI tried this tonight and it was an amazing curry, very balanced with both delicate and spicy flavors.. I added more chilli as I like it spicy but it’s a must!! 🙂 Thank you
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atSo happy you tried it!
fatema says
September 25, 2018 atI made this last night and it was delish. However mine was more a beige/Brown colour compared to your red/orange colour. Mine also looked like it had split coz of the blended cashews. Any help in these issues. still tasted great.
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atHi Fatema, it could just be the color of the spices you used.
Jennifer says
December 20, 2018 atExcellent!
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atAwesome!
Sandhya says
December 27, 2018 atI made it and it came out very well. Thanks.
Vaishali says
January 11, 2019 atHappy you liked it Sandhya.
Phoebe says
January 14, 2019 atHi when you say 2 tomatoes is that just two tomatoes or two tins of tomatoes?
Not sure where all the liquid comes from 🙂
Vaishali says
January 14, 2019 atYou add a cup of water, see step 3. If you want it to be saucier, add more.
AKHILESH PANDEY says
February 8, 2019 atPlease give me nice Indian North Indian style mushroom recipe.
Whatever you are giving it is not up to date and I tried your recipe, it was like a experimental for bachelor like me.
AP says
February 27, 2019 atI was on the hunt for a recipe similar to my favorite dish at an Indian restaurant down the street from my house…all I can say is WOW WOW WOW!!! This is was so good!! I will definitely be trying more of your recipes, thanks so much! I thoroughly enjoyed the heat but I will add, for those that do not, it is a bit spicy. So if you’d prefer less, I’d start with 1/4 tsp cayenne and then go from there depending on what heat level you’d prefer. Thanks again, Vaishali!
Swetha Subramanian says
May 21, 2019 atHi Vaishali,
This was a great recipe. I have never stir fried mushrooms on a dry pan before. Looking forward to trying the recipe again l with methi leaves and fewer cashews. Do u recommend using fenugreek seeds in this recipe? I didn’t but just curious since I never have methi leaves but always have the seeds on hand.
Regards,
Swetha