I vividly remember our family dinner at restaurants where I always ordered lush green palak paneer with butter roti. I guess I used to have it only because I was a huge fan of Popeye (cartoon character) and wanted to become as strong as him. The child in me still loves palak paneer and I end up making it once every two weeks. I love this recipe for its so easy to make and is packed with so much goodness.
Palak Paneer
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2
Palak Paneer
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 40 minutes
- Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 300 g Spinach
- 1/2 cup Finely chopped onion
- 250 g Paneer (Cottage Cheese)
- 3 tbsp Ghee
- 1 tbsp Vegetable / Cooking olive oil
- 1 tbsp Finely chopped ginger and garlic
- 2-3 nos Green chilies
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds
- 2 tsp Garam masala powder
- 2 tsp Coriander powder
- 2 tsp Freshly cracked pepper
- 3 tbsp Fresh cream
- To taste Salt
Directions
- 1)
Start by thoroughly washing the spinach. Drain well. Next dump the drained spinach leaves in the saucepan and let it cook for about 5-7 minutes, turning frequently, for the spinach to be wilted. Set aside for it to cool down.
- 2)
Add the cooled wilted spinach to the blender along with 2 green chilies. Blitz it to form a smooth paste.
- 3)
Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Once they crackle, add the onions, chopped ginger garlic and sauté until the onions turn translucent.
- 4)
Next add the coriander powder, garam masala powder along with 3 tbsp of water to avoid burning of the masala.
- 5)
Next add the spinach puree and further simmer for a few minutes.
- 6)
Now add the diced paneer to the curry, season with salt and freshly cracked pepper.
- 7)
To make the curry creamy add fresh cream, mix it well . Also add a dash a lemon and further simmer it for a few minutes.
- 8)
I love adding smoky flavor to my curries, hence I heated a charcoal until it turned red. Placed a small steel bowl or foil in the pan with the curry. Once the charcoal becomes red hot, place it in the bowl and immediately add a tbsp of ghee or oil over the hot charcoal. Cover the pan with a lid for 5-10 minutes for the curry to get smoke infused flavors.
- 9)
I generally love having palak paneer with hot phulkas or some jeera rice.
Tips
- 1)
You can add chopped tomatoes if you like to the curry, I personally don’t add any as they bring down the taste and color of spinach.
- 2)
If you are lactose intolerant you can add the cashew paste instead of fresh cream.
- 3)
If you don’t want to add either, just add 1/4 cup milk to yield creamy texture.
- 4)
Don’t cover the pan with a lid when the curry is simmering, I have tried dong it once and my curry didn’t look as lush green as this one.