This vegan matar paneer is made with tofu cubes and peas in a luscious cashew curry sauce. It's absolutely delicious, and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to make!
Matar paneer was always one of my favorite Indian curries to order while dining out. If you've never had it before, this delicious dish is made with cubes of paneer (pressed cottage cheese) and peas in a creamy spiced tomato gravy.
Sounds like a tough dish to veganize, right? Nope!
Creating a recipe for vegan matar paneer was actually pretty easy! Tofu makes a great substitute for paneer, and I've had success with it in the past in my recipes for vegan saag paneer and vegan chili paneer. As for the creamy sauce, while some versions of matar paneer contain dairy, it's not actually required. The tomato gravy gets its creamy texture from the same ingredient I use in recipes like cashew cream and vegan mac and cheese: cashews!
You'll be amazed at how decadent and delicious this dairy-free matar paneer is.
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Ingredients You'll Need
- Vegetable oil. If you have a favorite high smoke point oil, feel free to use it! Corn oil, canola oil, avocado oil, and coconut oil will all work, among others.
- Raw cashews.
- Onion.
- Garlic.
- Ginger.
- Diced tomatoes. We're using canned diced tomatoes, to make life easy.
- Spices. You'll need a handful of ground spices, including garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamon, and optionally cayenne pepper (for some heat).
- Frozen peas.
- Super-firm tofu. I find that super-firm tofu has a texture very close to paneer, but you can use firm or super-firm tofu if that's what's available.
- Salt.
- Fresh cilantro. You can skip this if it's not your thing.
- Cooked rice. I recommend using basmati rice.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
Heat some oil in a medium-sized pot, then add your raw cashews. Cook the cashews for a minute or two, until they've got golden brown spots.
Add your diced onion to the pot and cook it with the cashews for a few minutes, until it becomes soft and translucent.
Push the cashews and onion aside to makes some space in your pot, then add minced garlic and ginger. Sauté them briefly, stirring constantly to prevent them from burning.
Transfer the contents of the pot to a blender, making sure to scrape out the bottom of the pot well. Add your diced tomatoes to the blender as well. Blend everything up until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
Place your pot back on the stove and add some more oil. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add all of your spices. Cook the spices in the hot oil for about a minute, until they just start to sizzle.
Pour the tomato mixture from the blender into the pot with your spices. Stir everything up well and bring the sauce to a boil.
Lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for about ten minutes, until it thickens up and darkens in color ever so slightly.
Stir in diced tofu and frozen peas. Continue simmering the curry for about two minutes, just to heat up the tofu and peas you just added.
Take the pot off of heat and season the curry with some salt. Top it with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Your vegan matar paneer is ready to go! Enjoy it with some basmati rice. Vegan naan also makes a great accompaniment.
Leftovers & Storage
Leftover vegan matar paneer will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about three days. Reheat it in the microwave or in a saucepan over medium heat on the stove, adding a splash of water if you need to thin the sauce a bit.
More Vegan Indian Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Matar Paneer
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- â…“ cup raw cashews
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
- 2 (14.5 ounce/411 gram) cans diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (Note 1)
- 1 (16 ounce/454 gram) package super-firm tofu, diced (about ½ inch)
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- Cooked basmati rice, for serving
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of medium pot with one tablespoon of the oil and place it over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cashews. Toast the cashews for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until they're golden brown in spots.
- Add the onion to the pot and cook it with the cashews for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's soft and translucent.
- Push the cashews and onion to the side of the pot and add the garlic and ginger, Sauté the garlic and ginger for about a minute, stirring constantly, until they become very fragrant. Remove the pot from heat.
- Transfer the contents of the pot to a blender, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pot to get any crusted bits of garlic and ginger. Add the diced tomatoes to the blender. Blend the ingredients until smooth.
- Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pot and place it back over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, and cayenne pepper. Cook the spices in the oil for about a minute, until they start to sizzle.
- Pour the tomato sauce mixture from the blender into the pot. Give it a stir and raise the heat to high. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat. Let the sauce cook at a low simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens and darkens slightly.
- Stir the tofu and peas into the sauce. Bring the curry back up to a simmer and let it cook for about 2 minutes more, until the peas and tofu are heated.
- Remove the pot from heat and stir in the salt.
- Serve the curry over rice with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro.
Notes
- This amount of cayenne pepper will give your curry a mild kick. If you're not sure how much to use, add a bit at a time towards the end of cooking the curry, taste-testing until you're satisfied with the heat level.
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I absolutely love, love, love Alissa Saenz's recipes, and the vegan Matar Paneer is no exception. I did not have the cans of diced tomato, but I had some marinara pasta sauce left and some tomato paste, and half of a tomato. Instead of masala which I did not have at hand, I used Ras El Hanout, one of the spices I have learned about recently, and I also added some celery since I had only a small amount of pease left. I also fried the firm tofu in the pan first with some oil and soy sauce (not very east Indian I know), but it did the trick. I most definitely will make this again and I make sure I have all the original ingredients the next time :)
Wow just made this tonight - delicious! My first attempt at a cashew sauce, too. I was a little slow but it was worth the effort. And leftovers which is always nice. The spices were spot on. Two thumbs up!
"The Lunchbox" is another wonderful movie from India, if you can find it. Sorry to hear about those pesky insects, ugh.
Thank you! Adding that one to my Netflix lineup too!
This recipe came to my mailbox the same day that "The Two Hundred Foot Journey" came to my library. It was the perfect accompaniment, and a delicious dinner.
Sounds perfect! Now I feel like I need to get a copy of that film and have another Indian food night. Glad you enjoyed it! :)