Green Pea is among my favourite Winter Veggies. This sweet and
delicious veggie is so versatile that i add it to my Kanda Pohe , Rava Upma, Rice dishes, Stir fries , Masala oats , Dalia Upma , noodles , Multigrain Khichadi, soups and many more on daily
basis .
Green Peas are one of the most nutritious leguminous vegetables. Fresh tender peas are low in calories and are good sources of protein, vitamins, and soluble as well as insoluble fiber. Fresh pods are excellent sources of folic acid, Vitamin A , Vitamin C , Vitamin K and many other essential B complex Vitamins. Furthermore, they are rich source of many minerals such as calcium, iron, copper, zinc and manganese.
Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/green-peas.html
Source: http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/green-peas.html
Today I am sharing a very delicious dish using green peas as a main ingredient. Matar Usal is a fresh green pea curry from the Maharashtrian Cuisine with coconut and spice as a base. The curry has a slightly sweet, bit spicy and tangy taste. We Maharastrians generally add sugar or powderd jaggery to many of our dals and curries and this matar usal is no exception. The curry gets its tangy taste from the added lime juice. It can be made as a dry or gravy dish. Here I have made a dry matar usal which goes perfect with chapatti as a side dish. I have slightly adapted the recipe from the cook book, Indian Kitchen by Mounika Gowardhan. This curry serves as great menu for lunch box as well. It is also an Onion Garlic free recipe.
For
more green pea recipes, you can check my posts on Matar Paneer , Khoya Matar Makhana, Methi Matar Malai, Vegetable Korma.
Serves:
4
Preparation
Time: 5 minutes
Cooking
Time :10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
Measurements used 1 cup = 200 ml
- 2 cups Green Peas (Fresh or frozen)
- ¼ cup fresh coconut, scrapped or grated
- 3 green chilies
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- A small bunch of fresh Coriander Leaves.
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon Sugar or powdered Jaggery (optional)
- ½ teaspoon Red chilly powder
- ½ teaspoon Goda masala ( You can use Garam Masala instead)
- ¼ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- Juice of 1 lime
- Pinch of Asafoetida / Hing
- Salt to taste
Method:
- Take the scrapped coconut , green chilies , ¾ of the coriander leaves and ginger in a grinder jar with 3-4 tablespoon of water and make a paste.
2. Heat
a heavy bottom wok or pan over medium heat and add oil to it. When hot , add
the mustard seeds. Once they splutter add the cumin seeds and Asafoetida and
let them sizzle for few seconds.
3. Add
turmeric powder , followed by the coconut coriander paste and fry the paste for
2-3 minutes , stirring to make sure it does not catch the bottom.
4. Add
the red chili powder and goda masala and stir fry for another 1 minute. Now add
the green peas and mix well for a minute or so.
5. Add
1 cup of water and mix well. Add salt and sugar or jaggery and mix well. Bring
the gravy to boil and cover cook on low to medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
6. Put off the flame at this stage if you wish to have a gravy consistency. Cook further without cover while stirring until the gravy dries up. Put off the flame. Add lime juice and garnish with remaining coriander leaves and serve hot with chapati and salad.
Do try out the recipe as it is very simple and hardly takes time to cook. Would love to hear from you. Happy Cooking :)
For more curry recipes from Maharashtrian Cuisine , do check my post on
Delicious 👌👌
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