Mushroom Matar Curry
Button mushrooms and green peas in a restaurant-style onion-tomato gravy. A weeknight North Indian curry without khoya.
Equipment
- Heavy-bottomed pan or kadhai Indian wok
- Blender
- Small bowl for soaking cashews
Ingredients
For the mushrooms
- 250 g button or cremini mushrooms about 9 oz, halved or quartered
- 1 tablespoon oil
- pinch salt
For the cashew paste
- 10 cashews
- 1/4 cup hot water for soaking
For the gravy
- 2 tablespoons oil or ghee
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves minced, or 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 1 to 2 green chillies slit
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped, about 1 cup
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 3/4 cup warm water plus more as needed
For the peas and finish
- 1 cup green peas frozen or fresh
- 3 tablespoons fresh cream
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar optional, if the tomatoes taste sharp
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi crushed between your palms
To garnish
- fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoon cream optional
Instructions
Soak and sauté
- Soak the cashews in 1/4 cup hot water for 15 minutes.
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the kadhai over medium-high. Add the mushrooms and a pinch of salt. Cook 5 to 7 minutes, stirring, until they release their water and the edges brown. Tip them onto a plate.
Build the gravy
- In the same pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil or ghee over medium. Add cumin seeds. Let them sizzle 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook 6 to 8 minutes until soft and light gold, not burnt.
- Add ginger, garlic, and green chillies. Cook 1 minute until the raw smell goes.
- Add the tomatoes, turmeric, Kashmiri chilli, coriander powder, cumin powder, and salt. Cook 5 to 6 minutes until the tomatoes collapse and oil collects at the edges.
- Tip the masala into the blender with the soaked cashews and their water. Blend until completely smooth. Return it to the pan.
- Add 3/4 cup warm water and stir until it loosens into a gravy that coats a spoon.
Add peas, then mushrooms
- Add the peas. Frozen peas can go in straight. Fresh peas need 4 to 5 minutes until tender. Add a splash of water if the gravy is catching.
- Stir in cream, sugar if the tomatoes taste sharp, garam masala, and crushed kasuri methi. Taste for salt. The gravy should taste a little sweet from the peas and savory from the mushrooms.
- Add the sautéed mushrooms. Simmer 3 to 4 minutes on low so they take on gravy but stay juicy. Do not walk away.
- Garnish with cilantro and a spoon of cream if you want. Serve hot.
Notes
Frozen peas are fine. Do not thaw them on the counter. Add them frozen so they stay bright.
Fresh peas need a longer simmer in the gravy before the mushrooms go back in.
For a home-style sabzi, skip the blender and the cashews. Keep the masala chunky, add 1/4 cup water or none, and cook until the gravy clings. Still sauté the mushrooms first.
The cashew paste already gives body. Skip the cream, or use 3 tablespoons unsweetened cashew cream.
Do not fold crumbled khoya into this gravy if you want leftovers. Make the mawa version on its own night.
You can add 1 cup pan-fried paneer cubes with the mushrooms. The hero stays mushrooms and peas.
Vegan: oil instead of ghee, and cashew cream or thin coconut milk instead of dairy. Skip the cream garnish.
Jain: skip onion and garlic. Bloom a pinch of hing with the cumin, use 1 cup tomato, and blend 14 cashews so the gravy still has body.
Leftover onion tomato masala works. Use about 3/4 cup, skip the onion-tomato cook, and still blend it with the soaked cashews.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat gently with a splash of water. The mushrooms will soften on day two. Do not freeze.
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