Methi Matar Malai

Methi Matar Malai is fenugreek leaves and peas, cooked in a fragrant and creamy gravy. This North Indian dish is a winter special in the households and is also hugely popular in the dhabas & restaurants. My homemade version is super delicious, nutritious, flavor-packed and creamy! Serve Methi Matar Malai with any flatbreads like regular Roti, Tandoori Roti, Plain Paratha, Butter Naan, Bhakri, Plain Kulcha or with Basmati Rice.

About Methi Matar Malai

Methi is the Hindi word for fenugreek, matar for peas and malai for cream. Hence the name Methi Matar Malai. These 3 ingredients come together to make a rich and creamy curry that everyone loves. Above all, It is a kids-friendly and senior-friendly dish.

Fenugreek leaves are slightly bitter in taste. So to tone the bitter flavors, ingredients that can impart sweeter tones like – onion, cashews and tender peas are used. Lastly to enhance the texture and richness, cream is added.

You will come across many versions of Methi Matar Malai and in different colors – white, off-white, orange, red or brown gravy. The white and off-white are much more popular and standard in the households and restaurants. In the recent years, Innovative chefs have come up with a few variations which turn out in different colors & the gravy tastes much like Butter Masala.

In this post I share the popular version which has no tomatoes and yogurt. You can easily tweak this to your taste and preferences by adjusting the spices & cream. I have also shared how to make this without cream in the pro tips section.

Usually less amount of spices are used to acquire a lighter color & retain the pleasant flavors of methi, matar and malai. This dish is best, when the heat/spice level is kept low to medium, else the heat will mute the other flavors that are key to a Methi Matar Malai.

How to Make Methi Matar Malai (Stepwise Photos)

I made 2x recipe, so you will find double the quantities in the pictures.

Preparation

1. Pluck 2 to 2½ cups leaves (50 grams) from the fenugreek stalks (125 grams). Add them to a large pot of water and rinse them 2 to 3 times. Drain the water completely and sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt. Gently spread the salt over the leaves and rest for 5 mins. Later rinse them once more & drain to a colander. This salt step is optional but will cut down the bitter taste from the leaves.

2. Meanwhile prepare the following:

• 1 cup yellow onion sliced (125 grams, or red onion but the gray turns out deeper in color)
• 1 green chili (chopped to 2 portions, omit for kids)
• ⅓ inch ginger – peel & slice (5 grams) 
• 2 large garlic cloves – peel & slice (5 grams) 
• 15 whole cashew nuts (30 grams, or use ¼ cup blanched almond flour) 
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 small green cardamoms (or 1 large)
• ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon black pepper (cut down for low heat)
• ¾ inch cinnamon piece, optional ( or ½ inch cassia)
• 2 cloves (optional)

3. On a medium flame, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan. Add cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper and cloves. (be careful, they can splutter if the oil is too hot). When they begin to sizzle, add ginger & garlic.

4. Followed by onions and green chilies. Saute them for 6 mins until transparent. Add cashews and pour half cup water.

5. Cook covered until very soft, for 5 to 6 mins.

6. Cool down and remove the chilies for kids-friendly/ low heat option.

7. Transfer the onions (along with the leftover liquid in the pan), to a blender jar and blend to a super smooth puree.

8. Run a spoon and make sure the spices are ground well.

Optional – If you want to omit cream, you may add ⅓ to ½ cup milk and run the blender once more. Use pasteurized or raw milk that is boiled and cooled previously. Do not add raw milk here. I have not used milk here. If you want a step by step help for this part, take a look at this Malai chicken post.

Make the Gravy

9. Apart from the methi leaves you also need

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter (not pictured)
• ½ heaped cup green peas (90 grams, frozen or boiled fresh peas)
• ⅓ teaspoon sea salt (may need more to adjust)
• ⅓ to ½ teaspoon Garam masala (start with less and adjust to your preference)
• ½ teaspoon coriander powder
• ¼ teaspoon fennel powder (optional, tones down the bitter flavors from methi)

10. Melt butter on a medium heat and add the methi leaves. Saute them for 4 to 5 mins.

11. Stir in the ground spices – garam masala, coriander, fennel and salt.

12. Add the peas and saute for 2 mins.

13. Transfer the onion cashew puree. Pour ⅓ to ½ cup water. Note that if you used milk while blending the puree, do not add water here.

14. Mix well to make a gravy, bring it to a gentle boil. Cover and cook on a medium heat for 5 mins, until the gravy turns thick.

15. This is the consistency we are looking for. Taste test at this stage to confirm your methi is cooked. Add more salt if you want or black pepper or the reserved chili to increase the heat. I don’t add sugar but if your dish tastes bitter, you may stir in little sugar.

16. Pour 2 to 3 tablespoons (or more) heavy cream and turn off the stove. Mix well.

Garnish with little cream. Serve Methi Matar Malai hot with regular Roti, Tandoori Roti, Butter Naan, Plain Kulcha or Basmati Rice.

Pro Tips

• In this recipe yellow onions, cashews, cinnamon and fennel seeds impart natural sweetness to this dish. So I don’t use sugar. However if your methi is very bitter, you may add half tsp sugar along with salt.
• If you want you may reduce the amount of methi leaves to 1.5 to 2 cups. The methi leaves we get in Singapore don’t taste bitter, so I love adding more methi as mentioned in the recipe 2½ cups.
• I use yellow onions here for a sweeter flavor and lighter color. If you use red onions, you gravy turns brown but it will still taste good.
• If you want to keep your gravy white, avoid adding any whole and ground spices till the time you finish the dish. Sprinkle only garam masala at the last stage while adding cream.
• This recipe uses lower amounts of cream and you can omit that completely by blending your onion cashews with milk, avoid adding water to the gravy. 
• I love adding a black cardamom to the butter before adding methi. Don’t double for 2x and 3x.

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