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 basmati rice or roti. 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, like this velvety mushroom makhani and an unforgettable mushroom curry based off a mutton curry my dad would cook in my childhood home.
This Mushroom Matar is my latest foray into making a delicious curry to soak up with a roti or 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.
Recipe card
Mushroom Matar, Mushrooms and Peas in a Creamy Sauce
Ingredients
- ¾ lb cremini mushrooms or button 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 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon cayenne (or any red chili powder)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon kasoori methi 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 teaspoon sugar
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat a saucepan and add the onion and garlic to it. Add 2 tablespoon 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 Information
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Sergio Gabriel Bustos says
Hi, dear! Excellent dish. Please, note that you forgot to write when to add the sugar. I had already put the peas in when I realised, so pease were a bit sweet. Anyways, excellent, so thank you, Vaishali. You're my favourite cook.
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Sergio, so happy you enjoyed the dish, and thanks for the kind words. 😍 The sugar is at the end of step 5.
Monika says
did you have an original recipe which included oil and cream, is this one modified ?
If so, could you include the original version as well, please, or indicate how to go about using oil and cream.. Many many thanks ! 🙂
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Monika, my recipe never included oil or cream, but you can use one tablespoon oil to sauté the onions in step 1, and add cream instead of cashew cream (1/4 cup).
Priti Lakhani says
I had an excess of mushrooms and some frozen peas so I gave this a try. It was delicious and better than the restaurants! Thank you.
Vaishali Honawar says
So happy to hear, Priya!