Methi Malai Matar

A richer style of North Indian cooking

Methi malai matar comes from the rich, cream-based side of North Indian cooking, the same family as shahi paneer and navratan korma. It has become a standard item on restaurant menus and at wedding buffets, particularly in winter, when fresh methi and sweet green peas are both at their best in the markets of Punjab, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Recipes vary. This version has no tomato and no turmeric, so that the gravy stays pale with green flecks, which is what most people picture. Some home cooks do add a little tomato, which is also fine but makes the sauce pinker and sharper.

Taming the methi

Fresh fenugreek has a pleasant bitterness that needs managing in a delicate gravy. Rubbing the chopped leaves with salt and leaving them for fifteen minutes draws out the dark juice where much of that bitterness sits. Squeeze, rinse and squeeze again. A short fry then drives off the raw, grassy edge. Blanching the leaves for a minute in boiling water is a faster alternative, though the colour fades a little. Some bitterness should remain, because it is what stops the dish from tasting like sweetened cream. Baby methi is milder and may need only a short salting. Take care to wash thoroughly, because methi often carries fine silt in its roots and stems.

Keeping the gravy white

A pale gravy is harder than it sounds, because the instinct is to fry onions until brown. Here they are boiled first, then the paste is cooked over low heat with constant stirring. It takes patience, and it matters: raw onion paste left uncooked tastes harsh even after simmering, and browned paste turns the gravy beige and bitter. Stir in warm milk slowly, since cold milk poured into a hot pan can split. The cream goes in last, over the lowest possible flame.

Fixing common faults

If the dish tastes too bitter, the methi needed more salting. Add another spoonful of cream, a pinch more sugar and a splash of milk to soften it. If the gravy has split into grainy flecks, take it off the heat and whisk in a spoonful of warm milk or cream, or blend a little of the sauce with a soaked cashew and stir it back in. If it is too sweet, add a pinch of salt, a little more white pepper and a squeeze of lemon right at the end, off the heat. If the sauce has become too thick, loosen it with warm milk rather than water, so that it retains its body.

Substitutes and a lighter version

When fresh methi is out of season, frozen chopped methi works well after thawing and squeezing, with no need to salt it. Kasuri methi gives the aroma but none of the body, so two tablespoons crushed into the gravy produces something closer to a fragrant matar malai than the true dish. Almonds or melon seeds can replace cashews in the paste. Hing is left out here, which keeps the recipe free of the wheat flour found in most compounded hing.

For a lighter version, keep the cashews, swap half the cream for extra whole milk, and use one tablespoon of ghee in total. The gravy stays pale and silky, but with less weight. Using low-fat milk throughout is possible, though it tends to split and leaves a thin sauce. Ways of keeping what makes a rich dish satisfying while lowering its fat are a part of the culinary nutrition course. Plain curd can take the place of cream only at the very end, and off the heat, or it will curdle.

Serving and storing

The mild, sweet sauce suits soft breads best, such as naan, phulka or a plain paratha, and it also works well with jeera rice or a simple vegetable pulao. As this is a mild main dish, it does best with something sharp alongside, such as a chilli pickle or an onion salad with lemon. It also sits well beside a darker dish such as dal makhani for a festive table.

Refrigerate within two hours and eat within two days. Dairy gravies thicken a good deal when chilled, so reheat over low heat with a splash of milk, stirring often, and avoid boiling. Do not freeze the finished dish, as the cream separates on thawing. You can, however, freeze the onion and cashew paste for up to a month, then cook the rest fresh on the day, which cuts the work considerably for a dinner party.