Green peas masala
Happy b’day to me :). I turn 31 today. The idea of birthdays and celebrations has totally changed for me and am totally embracing it. Always been having it mandatory to go out with a big set of friends for my b’day and over the years now am preferring a quite and subdued birthdays. A dinner with super close friends is good and I seem to be totally fine even if that doesn’t happen. Last year was a peaceful and quite night at Tasha’s (my niece)place. It was just us. Felt peaceful and nice. This year I wanted the same but since D was working over the weekend, he said we couldn’t go this weekend. Little did I know that my co-sister & D were planning a big surprise for me. D, Adya and I stepped out for dinner last night and I was super surprised (and extremely happy) to see my closest family friends & my favorite kids at the restaurant we went to. I had such a lovely time with them. I cut my cake surrounded by my favorite kids. It just felt super lovely and nice :). Anywho, I also realized that the best b’day gift I can give myself is by completing a few recipes that I have been prolonging to post for a while now. I am starting with my Green peas masala which turned out super super good. I did it for the first time (we wanted to have bread with green peas masala – good combo this one) and I realized the recipe I did is such a keeper. I did not follow any one recipe specifically. I read quite a few recipes and then went with my flow and trust me, what turned out was pretty good magic :). I was quite pleased with myself. It did take quite sometime to do this recipe though since I read somewhere that the better you let each and every layer cook, the better the taste becomes. So, I let each layer cook slow and steady :). Do do do give this a try and let me know how it turns out.
- 2 nos onions
- 2 nos tomatoes
- 2 nos green chillies
- 7 nos cashew nuts
- 4-5 pods garlic
- 1 inch ginger
- 1 no bay leaf
- 4 nos cloves
- 2 nos cardamom
- 1 piece cinnamon stick
- 2 nos onions finely chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 3/4 tsp garam masala powder
- 1/4 tsp pav bhaji masala (optional)
- 3 cups peas (I used frozen)
- 1.5 tbsp refined oil
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves (finely chopped)
- 1/4 tsp dried fenugreek leaves/ kasoori methi (optional)
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In pan, add the oil; Once it's heated, add the chopped green chillies, ginger & garlic and fry for a minute.
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Throw in the roughly chopped onions next and fry for a few minutes (till the onions start to brown).
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Add the roughly chopped tomatoes at this stage and let it cook well. You can add a bit of salt at this stage.
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Stir the mixture every now and then and let the mixture cook well.
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Before turning off the heat, add the cashew nuts.
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Puree the mixture in a mixer/ blender once it cools down. Do not add any extra water while pureeing.
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The paste for the green peas masala is ready with this.
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In the same pan, add the oil and once it's heated, add the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom & cinnamon stick.
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To this add the finely chopped onions and stir it around till it browns.
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Add the ground mixture and fry till the oil starts to come out.
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Add all the dry masalas/ powder and salt and cook till the raw smell goes.
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Add 2.5 cups water & the peas and let the gravy cook for 10 mins.
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In the end, add finely chopped coriander leaves & dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) and turn off the heat.
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Enjoy this with regular bread/ Indian flat breads.
Stepwise pictures
For the paste
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- All ingredients required for the paste sans tomato (forgot to take picture of that :))
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- In a pan, fry the green chillies, garlic, ginger in some oil
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- To this add the onions & fry them for a bit.
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- Let the onions cook till it starts to turn brown.
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- Add the chopped tomatoes to this and stir it around
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- Let the mixture cook well (the color will start to change)
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- Finally before turning off the heat, add the cashews.
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- Once the mixture is cooled, add this to a mixer.
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- Puree the mixture without adding any extra water.
For the gravy
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- In a pan, add oil & saute bay leaf, cloves, cardamom & cinnamon stick.
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- Add onion and fry till it browns.
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- Add the pureed mixture and fry till the oil oozes out.
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- Add all the dry masalas & salt.
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- Let the mixture cook well.
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- Ensure the raw smell of the mixture goes off.
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- Add water, peas at this stage.
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- Let the mixture boil for about 10 mins.
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- Before turning off the heat, add coriander leaves & kasoori methi.
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- Stir well & turn off the heat.
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- Enjoy the green peas masala with some bread/ rotis
Like peas but mostly add it with something else. Will give it a try on its own. And, happy birthday.
thanks, this recipe is a definite keeper!