matar ka nimona version 3 | tender green peas nimona recipe

I have shared a rustic and more robust version of matar ka nimona earlier and in that post I had promised to post this delicate version of the dish. This version is made with the absolutely tender peas and the frozen ones are not suitable for this, the natural sweetness of peas takes the center stage here and the green pigment from peas is extracted in the ghee which floats on top.

The bright green colour that floats into this version of matar ka nimona makes it really aromatic and tasty with all the tenderness of early season peas. Incidentally peas are obscenely costly right now, that is, Rs.100 a kilo, but those who love this nimona  wouldn't bother about the expense.

Matar ka nimona is a fairly unheard of recipe. Purely a banarasi recipe made in some parts of eastern UP too, I make this version of matar k nimona in three versions depending on how tender the peas are as when they are the tender most, they need to be kept simple in seasoning and that is when they are the best  ...

Other two recipes are here, you can try any version according to the spice level you want and the type of peas you get, or the meal you want to make it for. It can be a main course or a side dish, and the version I am sharing now can be had for fasting days too as it is devoid of onion garlic and is made in ghee. Many Banaras people do fast on Mondays for Shiv ji and eat kadhi chawal, or nimona chawal for dinner after a day long fruits only diet. I made it quite hot with green chillies and ginger but it can be adjusted to personal taste.

ingredients ...

tender peas 1.5 cup
ginger 1.5 inch piece chopped
green chilies 3-4 or more chopped
coriander seeds 1tsp, cumin 3/4 tsp and black pepper 3/4 tsp powdered with 1 bay leaf
( all this can be wet ground in the mixie ..i used my everyday curry masala made with same proportions of the spices)
green coriander leaves chopped with stems 3/4 cup (stems are to be kept separately)
salt to taste
ghee 1 tbsp (no substitutes)
cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

procedure... 

Make a coarse paste of ginger n green chillies in a mixie jar and in the same jar put all the peas and grind till a coarse paste is made, some peas can remain whole too...

Heat ghee in a kadai and throw in the cumin seeds and let the splutter, put off the heat and throw in the spice powders and mix well....

After this add the peas paste and mix, start coking on medium heat, stirring frequently.....

 fry for a while, for 2 minutes on medium heat it should become glossy after frying well.....

Pour 1.5 cup of water in it and the chopped stems of coriander leaves and let the slurry like mixture boil for 2 minutes. It has been half cooked already and just needs to get the flavors of spices and coriander stems infused nicely.

I used less ghee than is used traditionally so the ghee does not come on top after boiling. But as soon as the cooking is done (coriander leaves will be added in the last minute) and you cover the kadai and rest it for  while, you can see the ghee floating on top with a lovely green color.

This green rogan (rogan = floating oil over any curry) is the indication of most fragrant and flavorful curry made with simple ingredients....

We enjoyed it with thin, soft and hot chapatis for dinner and it was a treat for the senses. Literally...

This version of matar ka nimona takes just about 10 minutes to cook if you are cooking for 2, you can plan the cooking accordingly. If you plan to cook for about 6-8 people you can expect about 20 minutes for this recipe as the time taken to heat up the larger quantity takes a little more time.

Make this simpler yet more aromatic version of matar ka nimona and let me know if it becomes a family favourite.

Waiting to hear from you.