Palak Paneer is a spinach based dish in which indian cottage cheese is cooked in smooth spinach gravy. It is mildly spiced, with prominent taste being spinach and flavored with lots of garlic.
There are various recipes of palak paneer, some prefer using finely chopped onions and tomatoes while some prefer puree. Some like to add lots of cream to it, some don’t. For me, palak paneer is bright green gravy with specs of onions, garlic and green chilies with lots of paneer. I prefer my spinach puree to be thick in consistency and not runny. So this is my own tried and tested recipe of palak paneer which i have been making it from years for my family and we all adore it.
As I always say, this dish is really simple and quick to make. But spinach needs extra care and attention ;). It will turn dark if its overcooked or not properly blanched. It is important to transfer spinach to cold water after cooking. It looks like extra step but it does make difference in the final dish.
Palak Paneer - Spinach With Indian Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 cups spinach leaves
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onions
- 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 2 slit green chilies
- 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger grated
- 1 dry bay leaf
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 2 tsp red chili powder
- 1 cup cubed paneer or fried paneer
- 1-2 cups of water
- 2 tbsp oil or ghee
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash spinach leaves thoroughly and add them to boiling water. Let it cook to 5 minutes.
- Strain cooked spinach and add it to a large bowl with ice cold water. This will stop the spinach from cooking further. By doing this, we also ensure that the green color of spinach remains intact.
- In a pan, heat oil or ghee or mix of both. Add cumin seeds to it and let it crackle.
- Add onions, green chilies, ginger and garlic to it. Season it with little salt. Let it cook for 3 minutes or till onions turn slightly brown.
- Add chopped tomatoes to it and let it cook till mixture turns mushy. Mix in all dry spices and let it cook covered for 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup of water if the mixture is too dry.
- Strain spinach leaves from cold water and puree them to smooth paste in a blender.
- Add it to cooked masala mixture. Add cubed paneer and salt to taste. Note: taste spinach puree before adding salt as spinach has it own salt.
- Let it cook for 5 minutes uncovered till paneer gets soft in the puree.
- Serve with hot phulkas, parathas, naan or rice.
