How to make Colm O'Gorman's quick and easy vegetarian curry

A combination of paneer cheese with the sweet fresh flavour of peas in fragrant spicy tomato gravy - ready in 35 minutes

Colm O'Gorman's Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer is perhaps my favourite vegetarian curry. I adore the combination of paneer cheese with the sweet fresh flavour of peas in fragrant spicy tomato gravy. It is fabulous. 

It is also quite quick and easy to make at home, especially if you use a shop-bought paneer. You can buy paneer in supermarkets locally these days, Tesco stocks it for example, but if you have a little time, it is very easy to make at home.

I love making my own paneer. If you want to give it a go, all you need are two ingredients, a saucepan, a colander, some cheesecloth, and a little time.

To make your own paneer, bring two litres of full-fat milk to a soft boil and add two tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice. 

Stir slowly for a few seconds until the milk starts to curdle. Turn off the heat and let the pot stand for ten minutes to allow cheese curds to form. 

Drain the pot into a colander lined with muslin, or cheesecloth as it is often known. Rinse the curds with cold water at low pressure to get rid of any vinegar residue. 

Tie up the corners of the cloth to form a ball and squeeze out any remaining liquid. Set the ball of cheese, still in the muslin, into a sieve placed over a bowl. Let it drain for one hour. 

Once it has drained, place the cheese, still in its cloth, on a plate, placing another plate on top and weighing that with a few cans of food. 

Use about 1.5kg in weight. Let it sit in the fridge with the weight on top for three to four hours or overnight if you have the time. When you peel away the cloth you will have a beautiful round of fresh paneer.

Most Matar Paneer recipes use fresh tomatoes, usually very thinly sliced, or grated. For convenience, I use either 400ml of passata or a tin of good-quality chopped tomatoes and both work very well. 

The spices in my recipe should all be quite familiar to most home cooks, bar the fenugreek leaves. 

You can find dried fenugreek, also known as Methi, in Asian supermarkets and in good health food stores. The fenugreek adds some lovely flavour to the dish, so do use it if possible. 

Kashmiri chilli powder is also available in Asian supermarkets. 

It is milder and sweeter than regular chilli powder, but if you cannot get hold of any, then regular chilli powder will work perfectly well, just use a little less unless you want quite a spicy Matar Paneer.

Matar Paneer Curry

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

Quick, easy - and a real showcase of the paneer.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 35 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• Curry base:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 medium onion

• 3 cloves garlic, grated.

• 1 tbsp grated ginger

• Handful of cashews

• 400ml passata or a tin of tomatoes

• ½ teaspoon salt

• Matar Paneer:

• 2 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 bay leaf

• ½ tsp turmeric

• ¾ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 300g frozen peas

• 250 ml water

• 1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves

• 1 tsp sugar

• ½ tsp sea salt

• 400g paneer

• Small handful fresh coriander

Method

1. Start by making the curry base for your dish. Peel and chop the onion. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until they are soft and translucent. Add the grated ginger and garlic and cook for another minute or two. Next, add the passata, or a tin of chopped tomatoes, the cashews, and the salt. Bring to a soft simmer and cook for five minutes. Remove from the heat and blitz to a smooth sauce in a food processor or blender. Make sure the sauce is nice and smooth, and that the cashews have been well incorporated into the sauce. Set aside for now.

2. If you are using shop-bought paneer, cut it into 2cm chunks and pop it into a large bowl. Pour over some hot water, not boiling but not far off is best, and allow the cheese to sit in the hot water for about five minutes, before draining it into a colander. Shop-bought paneer can be a little tough and squeaky, a bit like halloumi, and this will help to make it soft and tender for your Matar Paneer.

3. Time now to make the curry sauce. Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan over a high heat. Add the cinnamon stick and the bay leaf and reduce the heat to low. Allow those to sizzle in the oil for a minute, before adding the turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and the ground coriander. Stir the spices into the oil, cooking for just a minute to release the beautiful aromatics in the spices but taking care not to burn them.

4. Add the curry base that you prepared a little earlier to the pan and stir to thoroughly combine the base with the spices. Cook for three to four minutes, stirring it very regularly until it starts to thicken.

5. Next, add the frozen peas and 200ml of cold water. Bring the pan back to a simmer and stir in the dried fenugreek leaves, the sugar and the salt. Cook for another three to four minutes until the peas are soft and add the cubed paneer. Stir the pot well and cover with a lid. Cook for three minutes before adding a few tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander. Taste the sauce and add a little more salt if required. Garnish the dish with thinly sliced fresh chilli and a little more chopped coriander. Serve with boiled basmati rice, some crispy poppadom or some naan breads.