Matar Makhana Sabji | Green Peas Fox nut Curry

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Curries are an Integral part of Indian cuisine and every household has many different types of curries. We might have the same ingredients cooked in different ways. But still we get bored of the ones we prepare and want something different to satisfy our taste buds. I am no different, even though I cook so much , I am on the lookout for different recipes. So this time I thought of making this different and easy No onion No garlic Matar Makhana Sabji aka Green Peas Fox Nut Curry.

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What is Fox Nuts or Makhana

Fox Nuts also called as foxnut, gorgon nut, Lotus seeds or Makhana is a seed portion of Euryale ferox plant and is a popular food in Asian Subcontinent. It is common to east Asia, particularly India, china and Japan and is also grown in some parts of eastern Russia. (Source Wiki). A very popular way to consume them is to make a snack out of it. I call it the Indian popcorn. The makhana are generally shallow fried in ghee or oil with a few masalas. Another very common way of cooking is to make Makhana kheer. Fox nuts are filled with a lot of nutrients and are considered to be very good for the body.

The Challenge

We are celebrating #200 th week of foodie Monday bloghop. I  am very new to this group and only started at #194. Though I wished to start it earlier, the thing that kept me away was we have to post a dish every monday. The theme is decided just previous monday. It is difficult for me with my office and kids, but still I finally thought of keeping my fears behind and decided to give this a go. I am enjoying this every week as at it makes me to literally think of using the available pantry ingredients available at home and adapt it to the current theme.

This group is going strong with all the wonderful bloggers who started this group, the past and the current. I wish all a success to everyone and hopefully we all are there till we celebrate the next 100’s. So for this theme we decided to go in a round robin fashion in alphabetical order of our first name and cook from the other person’s blog after us.

So I had to cook a dish from Sasmita’s blog who blogs at First Timer Cook. Sasmita has a wonderful collection of recipes on her blog. I would say she specialises in Odia cuisine and has a lot of traditional odia recipes. I had a few lip smacking recipes from her blog shortlisted like her Nadia Bara Tarkari or the Methi Mushroom Curry. But the winner was Green Peas Foxnut Curry. I immediately shortlisted it. I have tried 1-2 savory Curry’s from fox nut , but never made it. So without further thinking I decided to make this.

Matar Makhana Sabji

Matar Makhana Sabji is very simple and uses a few simple pantry ingredients easily available at home. It is a non onion no garlic curry, so an ideal quick sabji for those who do not eat onion or garlic or for festivals or the fasting days where onion and garlic is prohibited. The Matar Makhana Sabji uses simple spices, tomatoes, green peas and makhana. It goes well with roti/chapati, Puris or even with some hot steaming rice. I have changed the quantity of few ingredients to the original recipe.

So here goes the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cup Makhana (Fox nut)
• 3/4 Cup Green Peas
• 1 tsp grated Ginger
• 1 Cup Tomato Puree
• 6-7 Cashew
• 1 tsp Cinnamon Powder (You can use whole cinnamon as well)
• 1 Green Cardamom
• 2 tbsp Ghee/ Clarified Butter (One can use oil)
• 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 1 tsp Coriander Powder
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Red Chilli powder (As per taste)
• 1/2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
• Coriander Leaves for garnish
• Water as needed
• Salt to taste

Preparation

• Soak the cashews in water for 15-20 minutes.
• In a pan, add a tablespoon of ghee and shallow fry the fox nuts / makhana on low until lightly golden colour.
• Transfer to a plate and let it cool.
• In the meantime, in the same pan add the remaining ghee.
• Once hot add the cumin seeds, green cardamom and let it crackle.
• Now add the grated ginger and saute for a minute.
• Next add in the tomato puree, cinnamon powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and salt.
• Let this cook on medium until the masala mixture is nicely done and it starts leaving the sides or releasing the ghee.
• Add in the green peas and some water (1 Cup) and let this cook on medium till the green peas are almost done.
• In the meantime, make a paste of the cashew mix with little water.
• Once the peas are done add the cashew mixture and sugar into the above masala.
• Once it comes to boil add in the fox nuts.
• Adjust the consistency of the gravy as needed by adding water.
• Let the mix come to a boil and just boil it for 1-2 minutes.
• I did not over boil it as I did not want the makhana/lotus seeds to go soft.
• Turn off the heat, garnish with coriander leaves.
• Serve it with poori/roti or rice.

Notes

• Adjust the consistency as needed.
• If you are making well ahead of time, add the fox nuts / Makhana just half an hour before else it will go soggy.

Few More No onion No Garlic recipes on my blog

• Matar Paneer
• Paneer BabyCorn
• Pav Bhaji
• Sana Thongba | Manipuri Paneer curry
• No onion No Garlic Carrot and Peas Pulao
• Simple Vegetable Biryani and the complete collection of No onion No garlic recipes

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