Palak Paneer – Spinach with Indian Cottage Cheese

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Palak Paneer is one of the most popular paneer Dishes.

Paneer is cooked with spinach and spices in the creamy and flavorful Curry. It goes well with Jeera rice or Roti or Naan.

While there are many curries across the Indian subcontinent made with spinach, none are probably as well-known across the world as Palak Paneer – a dish of chunks of a fresh cottage cheese, called paneer, swimming in a lush sauce made with fresh spinach. The spinach gives the sauce a naturally thick and creamy consistency, and palak paneer’s signature deep, jungle-green hue.

This is one of the milder Indian curries out there, both in heat and spice intensity. The gentle spicing from fenugreek, cumin and coriander plays well with the delicate spinach flavour, without overwhelming it. Meanwhile, the paneer are like little creamy sponges that suck up all those tasty flavours in the sauce!

Palak Paneer is my favorite dish Which I always love to enjoy homemade rather than restaurant. And finally I got my this recipe the way better than restaurants after trying so many times. The star of the dish is the creamy sauce, which is made of chopped or puréed spinach cooked in a medley of spices. Complementing the sauce are pieces of paneer, or Indian cottage cheese. It’s a simple but absolutely irresistible dish that will satisfy all the taste buds. 

The flavorful dish is easy to make at home. My Palak Paneer recipe uses ingredients that are relatively easy to find and takes about 45 minutes to cook. Honestly I couldn’t stop eating this when I was testing the recipe. Also this dish makes great leftovers. The spinach sauce tastes even better the next day!

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces paneer
• 3 tablespoons ghee or butter or oil 
• Pinch of salt (optional)
• Spinach Purée!!
• 1 pound pre-washed baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 medium finely chopped tomato
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 serrano pepper, seeded and finely diced 
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or use 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin)
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup heavy cream Optional
• 1 1/4 salt 
• 1/2 tsp of red chili powder 
• 1 tbsp of coriander powder 
• Punjabi Garam masala

Method:

1.Wash the baby spinach before you blench. Boil the water add pinch of salt into it. Add spinach and blench it for 2 to 3 minutes. After 3 minutes take it out and put it into ice cold water. 

2. Heat the pan and add some oil. Add cumin seeds. When it starting shuttering add asafetida and pinch of turmeric. Add minced garlic, slit Serrano pepper and onion. 

3. Sauté it for few minutes or until it turns brown. When it’s done, add add cumin coriander powder, red chili powder. Add kasoori methi and sauté well.
4. Now add Finley chopped tomatoes. Let cook the tomatoes. When it’s completely cooked turned the heat off. Let it cool down.

5.In a blender add drained spinach and handful of cilantro and the cooked tomatoes onions. Blend it well and make a smooth purée. Transfer it into a bowl. 

6.In a same pan add some ghee, butter or oil. Add pan net cubes and sauté it for a minute. Take out all paneer cubes and in same pan add red chili powder, garam masala and spinach purée. 

7. Add little heavy cream and stir well. Add salt as per taste and add the roasted paneer cubes. Let it cook for few minutes. Turn the flame off and serve it with some Naan, Paratha and rice.