Dhaba Style Matar Paneer

Delicious, lip-smacking Dhaba Style Matar Paneer recipe with step-wise pictures & video recipe. This Easy Mutter Paneer recipe is a great side dish for any Indian bread. Dhaba Style Matar Paneer Video Recipe!

This recipe of Dhaba Style Matar Paneer has been on my to-do list since forever. I know I tell the same about most of the recipes I post here but I guess it is a the bane of any food blogger. Our to-do lists are always long, and we keep adding more to it every single day. Anyway, I made note of a recipe for mutter paneer long long ago but never got around making it. One of the good things to come out of this covid lockdown is that I have gotten back to my to-do lists, checking off recipes that I never got around making.

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• Dhaba Style Matar Paneer Video Recipe
• How to make Dhaba Style Matar Paneer
• 📖 Recipe
• Dhaba Style Matar Paneer Recipe with Step by Step Pictures
• Recipe Notes
• 💬 Comments

I made this Dhaba Style Matar Paneer a week ago to go with my Sourdough Rotis – another recipe that requires a separate post on its own. I have a plan with our food/meal plans. For all the weekdays, we make do with simple, basic meals that mostly involve a curry or a gravy or stir-fry to go as side with rice/roti/millets and the two days of the weekend, I treat my family to simple specials – for example, this Mutter Paneer. Couple of weeks ago, it was Egg Curry and Biriyani. This works out well in staying within our calorie limits, not overeating while being at home but also with the limited produce we get these days.

Matar Paneer is the simplest of all paneer recipes and one of the common gravy dishes you find in any restaurant. Just as any Indian recipe, there are many ways to prepare it and each restaurant, each household makes it differently. If you threw in some fresh green peas with paneer in a gravy of onion and tomato, it would still be called mutter paneer. So what makes this recipe unique?! It is distinctly Dhaba Style, with the flavors similar to what you would get in highway side dhabas – a little spicy, a little creamy (without any cream or cashews) and a lot colorful, cooked on high heat, coming together quickly.

By the way, use fresh green peas for making this Dhaba Style Matar Paneer recipe – it makes all the difference. Frozen fresh peas work just fine too. I usually freeze shelled fresh peas during the peak winters and those last me for a few months after the season is over. All you have to do is shell the peas, wash them in running water, dry them on a clean kitchen towel and pack off in a ziplock bag – freeze. When you want to use them, take off the required quantity and thaw them in a bowl filled with water. Fresh as new! So, let’s learn how to make this easy mutter paneer recipe.

Dhaba Style Matar Paneer Video Recipe

How to make Dhaba Style Matar Paneer

📖 Recipe

Dhaba Style Matar Paneer Recipe with Step by Step Pictures

In a heavy bottomed pan heat 2 teaspoon oil. Add sliced onions and fry until translucent.

As the onions turn pink, add ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes until the raw smell is gone.

Add sliced tomatoes and cook them until mushy.

The onion tomato mixture should be almost dry, cooked until onions and tomatoes are almost caramelized. Let it cool down completely. Grind it into a smooth paste.

In the same pan heat 2 tablespoon oil. Add bay leaves and shahi jeera, let them splutter.

Add all the spice powders – Kashmiri red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder – cook for a couple of minutes.

Next add the prepared onion tomato paste.

Mix it well and let it cook for a few minutes on low flame.

As it begins boiling, add ½ cup of water and continue cooking it for a few more minutes.

When the gravy is creamy, add salt as needed and the garam masala powder. Cook for another 2 minutes.

Add fresh green peas, slit green chillies and roughly chopped coriander leaves.

Mix well and cook for 5-7 mins covered on low flame.

If the gravy is thick, add another ¼ cup of water and slowly bring the gravy to boil.

Add paneer cubes and mix well.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Serve hot with any Indian bread.

Recipe Notes

• Adjust spices as per preference.
• You can freeze paneer cubes, thaw them to room temperature and refresh them in hot water just before using to make it soft.

I would be delighted to know if you have tried this recipe, don’t forget to share your feedback and comments below. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me! I am also available on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter 🙂