Matar Paneer Easy Indian Curry

Matar paneer is an easy vegetarian curry made with marinated paneer served in a silky tomato-based spicy gravy and delicious with sweet peas.

It’s a pretty quick curry to make that takes a shade over half an hour to prepare and cook and it tastes fantastic.

Mutter Panneer

At its heart, matar paneer or mutter paneer is a cheese and pea curry. Now admittedly, that sounds “dodgy”… but it really is a gem!

I love the sweetness of peas in a curry, I use them in both my methi gosht curry and pretty classic keema matar recipes!

They offer little bursts of fresh sweet pea flavour that is simply delicious.

This recipe is originally from the north of India and also goes by the name as mutter paneer.

My version of matar paneer is coloured by the British Indian food that I adore. In fact, it shares a great deal in common with a chicken tikka masala.

Like that recipe, I add some flavour to the paneer with a simple marinade that is similar to my paneer tikka recipe which also stars in my paneer tikka salad. However, here I quickly sear the paneer in a pan rather than cooking it under a grill.

You could just heat the paneer in the sauce as I do with my palak paneer and shahi paneer recipes! This is a much more common way to cook this recipe.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is paneer?

Paneer is an unaged cheese made from milk or cream, that has a fairly neutral flavour.

It is commonly available in supermarkets, but you can make it at home and it takes minutes. Although homemade paneer does need to be pressed before using in this matar paneer recipe.

I have a method for making homemade paneer in my aloo paneer recipe.

Do I have to fry the paneer before adding to the curry?

No, you can just add it to the sauce and allow it to simmer in the gravy, but doing so does ramp up the flavour!

Can I make this in advance?

Yes, and as with many generously spiced dishes it improves after spending a day or two in the fridge.

Gently reheat in a covered saucepan over a low-medium heat.

Can I freeze matar paneer?

Yes, but personally speaking I am not a huge fan of freezing this. I find that it has a negative impact on the texture of the paneer.

If you do freeze this let it defrost before gently reheating in a covered saucepan.

Serving Suggestions.

As far as I am concerned a curry without bread is like Sunday lunch without gravy! Sure you can do it, but why?

For me, that means a naan bread sat alongside matar paneer, although being a Brummie it is pretty much naan bread with everything!

Being objective, the bulk of a naan is a little better with this very saucy matar panner than a roti.

I usually keep my chapati recipe for dry curries like aloo gobi.

If you are serving this as part of a multi-course meal then it goes wonderfully with Bombay potatoes or aloo methi (fenugreek potatoes).

Don’t forget the rice! Matar paneer is great sat alongside plainly boiled or steamed rice as well as a good pilau rice.

Equipment Used

I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Stovetop.
• 30cm or 12″ frying pan.
• Blender (optional) but I prefer a smooth sauce for this recipe.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen knife.
• Mixing bowl.
• Sieve to defrost the peas.
• Weighing scales and or measuring cups and or spoons.
• Stirring and serving spoons.