Matar Mushroom

Matar mushrooms or Mushrooms and peas in a tomato and onion gravy has become our go-to dish, which Jugnu and I enjoy almost every other week. It is easy to prepare, full of flavours, healthy and nutritious.
I remember ordering it in restaurants, and always wondered how do they nullify the strong taste of mushroom and make it so yummy. I know the mantra now, and that indeed is patience :). Let’s quickly check out the ingredients to prepare easy and delicious matar mushrooms.

Ingredients for Matar Mushroom

• 250 gms white mushrooms (cut into pieces)
• 1 cup matar (peas) – I took the frozen ones
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp cumin powder
• 1 tbsp turmeric
• 1.5 tbsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tbsp chilli powder (Jugni’s Tip – To keep it healthy, I add green chillies instead)
• Salt as per taste (I added 1tbsp)
• 1 large onion chopped
• 1.5 tbsp tomato paste (I was out of fresh tomatoes, you can add 2 medium tomatoes puree)
• 1 cup whole milk
• handful of coriander leaves
• 1 tsp – garam masala (optional)
• NO BUTTER NO CREAM

Matar Mushroom

Preparation for Matar Mushrooms

1. Heat 2 pans. Add water and frozen peas (matar) in one of the pans, let it boil for about 10 minutes.
2. In the mean time, add oil to the second pan (deep one).
3. Add chopped onion and let it cook until brown (around 4 minutes), then add cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste.
4. Let it cook for a minute, and then add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and chilli powder. (keep stirring).
   JUGNI’s TIP – while adding masalas (step 4), put the flame to the lowest so that the masalas don’t get burned out, also splash some water if needed.
5. After a minute, add tomato paste and give a quick stir, since its a paste, the mixture would look a lil dry, so add 1/2 cup of milk immediately and put the gas on medium flame, wait for it come to a boil.
6. When boiling, add boiled peas(from step 1), put the gas on the lowest flame, cover it with the lid (add 1/2 glass water if milk thickens out) and let it cook for good 10 minutes. Keep stirring in between.
7. The water/milk will reduced to half or less than that, in the gravy, then add the mushrooms. Put the flame on medium and stir it for a minute. The mushrooms would leave some water.
8. After a minute of stirring mushrooms in the curry, check consistency and add rest of the milk (1/2 cup or more as per your liking).
9. Put the gas on low flame and let the curry cook in the covered pan for another 8-10 minutes. (The mushrooms will reduce in size – the indication that it has been cooked).
10. Turn the gas off, add garam masala (optional) and garnish with coriander leaves.
    JUGNI’s TIP – Coriander leaves when blend with the curry/gravy of mushroom, gives an amazing flavour and tastes great, so it is highly recommended.
    Jugnu is a big fan of coriander leaves, and makes sure to garnish his bowl with a few of these.

Matar mushrooms can be enjoyed with Indian roti / naan, bread, tortillas , or with steamed or cumin rice. You can make the gravy richer, by adding cashew paste or cream.
I am gonna enjoy this in lunch today with some tortillas, let me know if you would like to give it a try. 🙂

If you like my recipe, give a thumbs up or share it on social media. 🙂

Flying away
Jugni