Peas in a Creamy Sauce

I recently typed this recipe up for a friend so I thought I would share it with you guys too. It comes from one of Madhur Jaffrey's Indian cook books. It such a rich and delicious way to eat peas.

Peas in a Creamy Sauce serves 4-6, total prep time about 15 minutes, cooking time about 3minutes.

Ingredients
1/4t sugar
1/4t ground cumin
1/2t garam masala
3/4t salt
1T tomato paste
2T water
3/4 heavy whipping cream
1T lemon juice
1/4-1/2t cayenne pepper
2T chopped cilantro
1T fresh hot chilis (finely chopped)
1/2t cumin seeds (not ground)
1/2t mustand seeds (not ground)
10-20oz. frozen peas (defrosted and drained)

Directions:

Sauce:
Combine sugar, ground cumin, salt, caynenne, garam masala and tomato paste in a small bowl. SLoly add 2 T of water, mixing as you go. Add cream, mix Add lemon juice, cilantro and chili, mix and then set aside.

Peas:
In large skillet heat 3 T oil. When hot add 1/2t cumin seeds and 1/2t mustard seeds...toast (cook stirring until fragrant)...when seeds begin to "pop" add the peas and stir fry for 30 seconds. ADd sauce, cook over medium heat for 2 minutes. Serve warm with rice or with other favorite Indian dishes.

Notes:
I do not usually add the chilis because I don't care for them
I often leave out the cilantro because I don't always have it
The recipe does not seem to suffer greatly without those two ingredients.
Also, the whole seeds could probably be left out without it being a huge deal, but they do add nice additional flavors and a little texture too.

Enjoy!