Mushroom Mattar Methi Malai. Can you say that five times fast?
It’s the tongue twister of my dreams. Pun intended. You know, because the tongue twister is about food… and I’m talking about tongues… which you use to taste food?
Jokes aren’t as funny when you have to explain them…
Not only is the title of this recipe a tongue twister (hehehe: pun), but it’s also a pretty good alliteration (4 m’s! mmmm… double pun!): mushroom mattar methi malai.
Why did I name this dish mushroom mattar methi malai? Because it’s the tastiest alliterative tongue twister ever? No… mainly because it’s made with mushrooms, green peas (mattar), fenugreek leaves (methi), and coconut cream (malai).
Now that I’ve talked for what seems like forever about the words that make up the title of this recipe let me describe the actual dish.
What is Mushroom Mattar Methi Malai?
It’s a rich, creamy, and filling dish that’s full of flavor. Mushrooms add a meaty quality to the dish, and the peas just sort of pop in your mouth. Dried fenugreek leaves, which are also known as kasoori methi, add a slightly sweet, slightly bitter, and somewhat nutty flavor to the dish. Fenugreek leaves are nowhere near as bitter as fenugreek seeds – so do not substitute! The leaves have a really unique flavor – I consider them to be the secret ingredient to making Indian curries taste “restaurant quality.”
Tip for adding the fenugreek leaves: rub them in your hands before adding them to the curry. Crushing them releases more flavor.
If you like this recipe, check out my eBook: South Asian Persuasion: 100+ Paleo-friendly Indian Recipes. I have a delicious Shahi Mushroom recipe in there that I know you’ll love too 🙂
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons oil divided
- 1 onion
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1- inch ginger minced
- 2 8 ounce packages white button mushrooms, sliced
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ cup tomato puree fresh or canned is fine
- 1 cup green peas
- 1 small handful kasoori methi
- 1 cup coconut cream*
- Cilantro for garnish optional
Instructions
- Add the onions, ginger and garlic to a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside for now.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saute pan over medium heat.
- Next, add the sliced mushrooms and saute for 7-8 minutes or until the mushrooms soften. Set the mushrooms and water they release aside in a bowl.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the saute pan.
- Add the blended onion mixture that you set aside earlier and then saute for 10 minutes, or until the onions are cooked through.
- Add the spices and stir for 30 seconds to help toast the spices. Then pour in the tomato puree and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the peas, kasoori methi, mushrooms, and coconut cream. Stir until the cream completely dissolves.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Sneh says
Any substitute for coconut cream?
Shraddha says
This was soooooo yum!! Thank you!
Shraddha says
FYI I substituted tomato purée with 1/4 cup tomato paste and 1/4 cup water mixed and it turned out really tasty.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Shraddha, I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how much you liked it 🙂
Sarika says
I’m wondering if you can just sub 3/4 cup of the frozen onion masala for the puree, onion, garlic, ginger and spices? Possibly do steps 2, 3 and 4, step 5 add the frozen masala, then go straight to step 7?
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Sarika, I haven’t tested the exact quantity to be sure, but this is what I’d do! I’d probably skip adding the extra 2 tbs of oil since the masala already has oil in it. Let me know how it goes 🙂
Dweep says
I made this today. It turned out slightly bitter ( without even adding kasoori methi). I suspect it’s because of ground onions. I fried the onion mixture for about 10 mins, how do I know it’s done? Anything to fix the bitterness now..I made a whole lot of this curry! Thank you 🙂
Vibha says
Can we use fresh methi instead of kasoori methi for this dish? I am excited to try this today
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Vibha, I’ve only tested this with dry kasoori methi – if you experiment with fresh please let us know how it goes!
Sheela says
Comes out delicious everytime and its my kids favorite curry. Thank you for sharing.
My Heart Beets says
Sheela, that’s awesome! It’s so great to hear that your kids like this!
Linda Noronha says
The dish says mushroom mattar methi malai, mattar is green peas, there is no green peas in the recipe, have you forgotten to add peas?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Linda, there are peas in the dish as well as listed in the recipe card. Perhaps they are hard to see in the photo?
Pramila says
Made it today and it was absolutely delicious.
My Heart Beets says
Pramila, that’s so great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how this turned out for you 🙂
Amy says
Yummy! Will try again..
My Heart Beets says
Thanks Amy! So glad you liked this dish 🙂
Marika D’Auteuil says
I adore this recipe !
Thank you
Do you think it would be safe to freeze ?
My Heart Beets says
Thanks Marika! Hmmm I don’t think I’d freeze this recipe – I feel like it’ll change the texture of the dish. If you try though let us know how it goes!
Dalbir says
Since a lot of these ingredients are similar to your onion masala recipe – would we be able to use your onion masala for this? if so, how would I adjust the recipe?
thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Dalbir, yes you can definitely use onion masala in any Indian recipe calling for onions and tomatoes. I haven’t tested the onion masala in this recipe but my guess is to use ¾ cup of onion masala. The great thing about the masala is that since it is already cooked, you can stir it in at the end if you feel like the dish needs more masala. Hope that helps!
Jyotsna says
I had a dinner party yesterday and made the aloo baingan, butter masala, chicken curry, carrot kheer and the above mushroom mattar methi. All the recipes were good though the mushroom mattar methi and chicken were the best. Thanks Ashley for the wonderful recipes.
My Heart Beets says
That’s so great to hear! Glad you liked the recipes 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how they turned out for you!
Wil says
I will be making this again!
Couldn’t find Fenugreek leaves at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s so I pan roasted some Fenugreek seeds, knowing it’d be a different flavor. Even with the trade, it was dynamite! Great spice! Good kick! Real crowdpleaser! I used dried peas and put it all in the instant pot for about 10 minutes, with a little bit of pea-crunch, it was mega yum.
I also accidentally used sweetened condensed coconut cream GOOD LORD is this thing sweet! Seeing as it was too sweet to eat on its own I put it over some mushroomy-herb risotto and that made it a killer dish!
Will try to make it correctly next time! : )
Thejasree says
It would be good if you make short videos of your recipes!
My Heart Beets says
Thank you so much for the interest! I would love to do this but as a stay at home mama to a toddler I don’t have much time right now – maybe one day when he is a little older!
Carey Letts says
This was an amazing dish! I’m already planning when to make it again. What an amazing flavour for such a simple dish to make. Looking forward to trying more and more of your recipes!
My Heart Beets says
Carey, I’m so glad you liked it!! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you! I can’t wait to hear what you think of any other recipes that you try from my blog 🙂
Renu Chawla says
Hi Ashley I just came across your recepie as I am planning to cook something with mushrooms. Reviews looks great so am about to give it a go..just wanted to know..as I avoid cream in recepies..can I put full fat yogurt or Greek yogurt instead of coconut cream or full fat cream??
My Heart Beets says
Hi Renu, I’m sorry for the late reply – how did it go for you? I’m sure it’ll be good, just less decadent.
Donna says
Hi – so I know this will totally ruin the alliteration aspect, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to sub heavy cream (or something a little healthier?) for the coconut cream. I don’t like the taste of coconut but am OK with dairy. I’m about a month into becoming vegetarian and have a bunch of your recipes lined up to try. This and the navratan korma are top of my list. Thanks for any recommendations. Best wishes!
My Heart Beets says
hey Donna! You can definitely use heavy cream instead of coconut cream 🙂 Can’t wait to hear what you think of the recipe!
Donna says
WOW! Simply wow. I think this is one of the best things ever to make it out of my kitchen. Even better than the Navratan Korma (which was a huge success) and probably jumped right up as one of my favourite dishes ever. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Donna, I am SO happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for letting me know how it turned out for you! 🙂
Kasey says
Hello! I just stumbled onto your site looking for some paleo dishes that were also vegetarian. This looks delicious!
I have a question, though: I’m awful with spicy food –would it be possible to leave out the cayenne pepper?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Kasey! Yes, you can definitely leave out the cayenne! If you are near an Indian grocery store, try buying “Kashmiri chili” – it’s similar to paprika but with a tiny bit of heat – that may be a good substitute for ya. Let me know how this turns out for you 🙂
Hannah Pomales says
Amazing recipe. So easy, healthy and not to mention affordable to make! Will be another staple in our home thanks to you!
My Heart Beets says
Hi Hannah! I’m so glad to hear that you liked it 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you!
Emily says
Hand on my heart, I think this is the best dish I have ever made. I love cooking and baking, and I have made innumerable vegetarian, vegan, and more recently paleo recipes for myself and my family over the years, many of which we have loved. But only a handful of times have I thought: I just cannot believe something THIS amazing came out of my kitchen. I have made this dish three times, and I’ve had that very thought each time! Totally worth the drive to the Indian market to get kasoori methi. Thank you Ashley!
My Heart Beets says
Emily, thank you for letting me know how much you like this dish! I’m so happy to hear that 🙂
Cinde says
Hi, Thank you for the recipe. Will it still be good if if I omit the kasoori methi?
Cheryl says
I am guessing that since the kasoori methi is an important ingredient since it is in the name, I was surprised that I had the garam masala in my spice cupboard, can’t remember why. But can you give me an idea of what the taste of it is like?
My Heart Beets says
Hi Cheryl, kasoori methi or dried fenugreek leaves have a distinct flavor… they’re kind of similar to fennel but slightly bitter (not as bitter as actual fenugreek seeds though).
Sam says
DELICIOUS. Pro recipe. Great job!
My Heart Beets says
Thanks, Sam!
Melissa Price says
This dish was absolutely delicious. I made it for a dinner party and everyone raved. I was able to track down the Kasuri Methi at an Indian grocery store, so ingredients weren’t an issue (though I see Ashley has a link to Amazon to buy this ingredient, but I didn’t have time to do that because I decided to make this last minute). Really really great dish – can’t wait to make again (and try other recipes!!)
My Heart Beets says
Melissa, that’s awesome!! So happy that everyone loved the recipe 🙂 Hope you’ll let me know how any other recipes you try turn out for you!
Virginia says
I made this tonight! Delicious. I didn’t think the recipe would make much but it sure did make enough for two meals.
My Heart Beets says
Virginia, so happy to hear that!! 🙂
paleo_tomek says
I am so making this tomorrow Ash. But as always putting my spin on it. Will tag you on instagram again. So far I have not met a single one of your dishes that I did not just love. Thank you. I hope you come out with an Android app for your cookbook.
My Heart Beets says
Awesome!! I love seeing your pictures on Instagram! Can’t wait to see what you think of this one 🙂
paleo_tomek says
And as promised. Made this with my twist. Tagged you.
Guys this is an amazing “sauce” 🙂
My Heart Beets says
Just saw the pic on IG – love it!! 🙂
Airyfairycelt says
I am in! I love a good curry and I love mushrooms so I am very happy. Looks like a good one to me.
My Heart Beets says
Hope you love it!! 🙂
Sush says
Turns out deliciois every time. Thank you so mich for sharing this recipe.
My Heart Beets says
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂
PersisentDesiCook says
Looks absolutely divine. Where can you find coconut cream? Is that different than coconut milk? Another other veggies that would go good with this gravy?
My Heart Beets says
Thanks! You can get canned coconut cream at Trader Joe’s – or you can buy any canned full-fat coconut milk and after a night in the fridge, the cream will solidify at the top. Just scoop it out and use that 🙂 Also, I’m pretty sure any veggie would taste good in this curry. Hope that helps and hope you love it!