Green peas masala recipe with step by step photos – an almost restaurant-style delicious recipe of green peas curry. Almost restaurant like as the recipe does not have onions and garlic. Though, if you want you can add onions and garlic. Makes for a comforting meal when paired with some roti, naan or rice.
This matar masala recipe does not use butter or cream like most of the restaurant style recipes I have posted. Cashews and milk powder are added to make this gravy creamy, smooth and slightly sweet. I made the gravy a bit spicy, but you can always add the amount of spices as per your tastebuds. The gravy tastes similar to Paneer butter Masala gravy.
Usually I combine peas with other veggies to make dishes like Aloo Matar, Matar Paneer or gobi matar. But at times I just make a gravy like this recipe or make a dry peas curry. For best taste use fresh green peas. However, you can also use frozen green peas if they are not in season.
Serve peas masala with roti, naan or phula. You can also serve green peas masala with jeera rice or saffron rice or ghee rice.
How to make Green Peas Curry
Preparation
1. First soak 10 to 12 cashews in warm water for 20 to 30 minutes. Use whole cashews.
2. When the cashews are soaking, steam the fresh peas in a pan or a steamer till they are tender and softened. You can steam them in a steamer or a stovetop pressure cooker or in the Instant Pot.
If cooking in a pressure cooker, then cook for 2 whistles adding water as needed. You can also use frozen peas.
3. Later drain all the water from the cashews. Add the cashews together with 1.5 cups chopped tomatoes in a blender or grinder jar.
4. Without adding any water, grind to a fine and smooth paste. Keep the tomato-cashew paste aside.
Make Masala Base
5. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a pan. Lower the heat and then add the whole garam masala or whole spices:
- 1 tej patta
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 or 2 single strands of mace (optional)
Fry for some seconds on low heat till the spices become fragrant.
6. Then add 1 to 1.5 ginger+green chili paste and a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing). Stir and sauté on low heat till the raw aroma of ginger and green chilies go away.
7. Now add the tomato-cashew paste.
8. Stir and mix the paste well.
9. The mixture splutters a lot while sautéing, so cover the pan with a lid and cook this masala mixture, till it stops spluttering on a low heat.
10. Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk 2 tablespoons of fresh whole milk curd (yogurt) till smooth.
11. Stir and sauté the masala paste on a low to medium heat, till it thickens and you see oil specks on top and oil releasing from the sides.
12. Then add the below listed ground spices:
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon red chili powder (add as per taste)
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
12. Stir and sauté for a minute.
13. Now lower the heat or you can opt to turn the heat off. Add whisked or beaten curd (yogurt).
14. As soon as you add the curd, stir quickly with a ladle or spatula so that the curd does not split.
15. Stir the curd very well with the whole mixture. Remember to add beaten curd on a low heat and keep on stirring quickly and continuously till the entire curd is mixed and incorporated evenly in the masala paste.
16. Add 1 cup water. Stir and mix thoroughly to make an even gravy.
Make Green Peas Masala
17. Then add the cooked green peas.
18. Season with salt as needed.
19. Stir and mix everything very well.
20. Add 2 tablespoons milk powder.
Instead of milk powder, khoya or mawa (milk solids) can be added. But remember to add khoya and sauté it after the tomato-cashew paste is cooked through.
21. Stir and again.
22. Bring the peas masala curry to a simmer on a low to medium heat. About 5 to 6 minutes on a low to medium heat after you add the milk powder.
23. Lastly add ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves), which has been crushed. Stir the curry and switch off the heat.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve green peas masala with chapati, tandoori roti, naan or roomali roti.
You can also serve green peas curry with steamed rice or jeera rice or biryani rice or ghee rice.
More curry recipes
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Green Peas Masala | Green Peas Curry
Ingredients
for tomato-cashew paste
- 3 tomatoes (medium to large) – 250 grams tomatoes or 1.5 cups chopped tomatoes
- 10 to 12 cashews
other ingredients
- 1 cup matar or 140 grams matar (peas)
- 1 to 1.5 teaspoon ginger+green chili paste or ½ inch ginger + 1 to 2 green chilies – crushed to a paste in a mortar-pestle
- 2 tablespoon Curd beaten (yogurt)
- 2 tablespoon milk powder or dairy whitener
- 1 generous pinch asafoetida (hing)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi – crushed (dry fenugreek leaves)
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoon oil
- salt as required
whole spices
- 1 tej patta
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 or 2 single strands of mace – optional
Instructions
Preparation
- First soak 10 to 12 cashews in warm water for 20 to 30 minutes.
- When the cashews are soaking, steam the fresh peas till they are cooked completely. You can steam them in a steamer or pressure cooker. If cooking in a pressure cooker, then cook for 2 whistles.
- Later drain the water from cashews and add the cashews along with 1.5 cups chopped tomatoes in a blender or grinder jar.
- Without adding any water, grind to a fine and smooth paste. Keep the ground tomato-cashew paste aside.
Making masala base
- Heat 3 tbsp oil in a pan. Then add the whole garam masala – 1 tej patta, 2 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 or 2 single strands of mace (optional). Sauté till the spice become fragrant.
- Then add 1 to 1.5 ginger+green chili paste and a generous pinch of asafoetida. Stir and fry on low heat till the raw aroma of ginger and green chilies go away.
- Now add the tomato-cashew paste. Stir and mix the paste well.
- The mixture splutters a lot while sauteing, so cover the pan with a lid and cook this masala mixture, till it stops spluttering.
- Meanwhile in a small bowl whisk 2 tbsp of fresh full fat curd till smooth.
- Stir and saute the masala paste on low to medium heat, till it thickens and you see oil specks on top and oil releasing from the sides.
- Then add the ground spices – turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder.
- Stir and sauté for a minute.
- Now lower the flame. Then add beaten curd.
- As soon as you add the curd, stir quickly with a ladle or spatula so that the curd does not curdle.
- Stir the curd very well with the whole mixture. Remember to add beaten curd on a low flame and keep on
- Stirring quickly and continuously till the entire curd is mixed incorporated in the masala paste.
- Add 1 cup water.
making green peas masala
- Then add the cooked green peas. Season with salt. Stir everything very well.
- Add 2 tbsp milk powder. Instead of milk powder, khoya can be added. But add khoya and saute it once the tomato-cashew paste is done. Stir again.
- Bring the green peas masala curry to a simmer on a low to medium flame.
- Lastly add 1/2 tsp kasuri methi, which has been crushed. Stir and switch off the flame.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve peas masala with chapatis, tandoori rotis, naan. You can also serve green peas curry with jeera rice or saffron rice.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Green Peas Masala recipe post from the archives, first published in March 2015 has been updated and republished on November 2022.
Very yummy when tried by adding ginger and onion too.. Everyone guests come for dinner this curry is my first choice.. Thks a lot
Welcome Latha. Glad to know this.
Thanks a lot for the recipe dear.
I was awesome in taste as well as presentation.
My hubby and his friends simply loved it.
Welcome Bharti. Glad to know this.
hi instead of fenugreek leaves can I use fenugreek powder as I have Everest fenugreek powder I got it aftr chkn in few of ur recipes. And also wen u say 2 tablespoons is that heaped or flat. Thank you.
kaneez, you can use fenugreek powder, but just add a light pinch or else the gravy will become bitter. its flat and not heaped. if i use heaped, then i will mention that its heaped tablespoon.
I tried the recipe today and it was amazing! Thank you very much!
Only that I couldn’t grind the cashews to a fine paste like in the recipe (I think your grinder works better than mine 🙂 )… Still the taste wasn’t compromised at all I think!
Thanks once again..
thanks for this lovely feedback ruchi. good to know that the matar masala recipe was good in spite of the cashews not being ground to a fine paste.
welcome ruchi, thanks for positive views.
Hi Dassan, if I use garlic and onions in this recipe, when do I add them please ? After sautéing the whole garam masala spices OR blending them with the cashews and tomatoes To maintain smoothness of gravy ? Hope to hear back from you in this…..tnx much and always 🙂
dimpy, add garlic when ginger+green chilies are added. add onions after sauteing the ginger+green chili+garlic. if using garic and onions than no need to use hing. saute the onions till golden, then add tomato+cashew paste.
Hi,
Thank u so much for the tasty receipes, nt only this one bt i have tried many of the receipes, al the receipes were tasty. Thank u for the detailed explanations, and also for your patience….whenever i want to try somethng new i wl go throgh ur site, and i wll be able to clear all my doubts here….. i may nt be able to comment al the time bt always thank in my heart… thank u so much sister….. all the best…… and will be waiting for more receipes to try ….. thank u once again….
thanks a lot shwetha. its fine if you are not able to comment. will be adding more recipes 🙂
Thanks for your wonderful recipe.
Can I freeze fresh peas directly after removing the outer pods? Please advice.
yes geetha you could freeze fresh peas when not in season and you want to store for future use 🙂
Tried it. It was ok.
Thank you so much for these recipes. You always serve as a helping hand in the kitchen. Thank you so much for your presence.
thanks a lot sneha 🙂
this might be the best website i have came across :>
made this recipe.. and it came out delicious .
i added some garlic and one chopped up large onion
pleased to know this chris thankyou 🙂
WOW Dhagar Dish…Awsome …..
thankyou ravi.
Hi Dassana,
Thank you for the awesome recipes! Live in US and your recipes help me stir up some amazing Indian dishes!
Can I add paneer to this dish? Also I saw the section with no onion or garlic.. Do you have some Jain recipes? ( no potato, onion and garlic)
thanks hiral. you can add paneer to this recipe. i do not have any jain recipe without potatoes. but there are many no onion garlic recipes.
Tried this today.. It was excellent.. Thanku for posting such wonderful and amazing recipes..
welcome ankita
Hello. I have been following your recipies for sometime now. Tried peas curry today. My husband loved it so much that he had it as a main dish and a side dish. He did not touch any other dishes on the table.
Thank you for the lovely recipient.
welcome meera. nice to know this.
Hello Dassana
sorry to leave you comment on this page actually I wanted to leave a comment on palak paratha but was not able to . For palak paratha if I want to use frozen spinach what is the method to make this paratha and how much frozen spinach for how many cups of atta please advise, thanks
welcome simmi. i will not be able to tell you about how much frozen spinach. because i have never used it. you will have to use approximation.
Awesome recipe site..i just discovered ths site n found all te recipes i hv gone through as 100% genuine…measurements, ingredients, process everything is similar to how we do. As i m a south indian…these r all our regular b.fast recipes n our way of making. Good job dear…since m on mobile screen…i was just going tru few of breakfast recipes..dint try to find bloggers name or details.. Anyway…good job to who ever owns ths site..thr r 100s of recipe sites…n i been exploring many f them…but dint find any blogs which i felt i can close my eyes n cook as per recipe given..I m going to try some of ur recipes.. Kudos to you…keep up te good job..step by step picture tutorial n briefing really helpful for beginners as well as for non professional cooks.. Awesome !! Let me explore more…Thanks!!!
thanks a lot preethi for this encouraging feedback. glad to know that you liked the recipes. do try some recipes.