Palak paneer is a popular North Indian curry. Cottage cheese (paneer) is cooked in spinach puree with some spices. It has a smooth creamy gravy that is made from onion, tomato, spinach and spices. It is one of the most popular and well-liked paneer recipes as it was such a great way to sneak in the greens.
Palak paneer is a healthy recipe that is filled with a lot of nutrients. It has a great combination of spinach and cottage cheese (paneer). The spinach is blanched and then pureed. It’s then cooked with spices and simmered on low heat with a paneer. The cream is added to cut down on the bitterness of the spinach leaves and also make them rich. If you don’t want to add cream, you can also use yoghurt or milk in place.
As this recipe has many ways and every person has their cooking style even I also make it differently every time I cook it. For the curry, you need to blanch the spinach and then puree it. Once the spinach is boiled, add it to ice-cold water. This helps in retaining the colour of the spinach. The curry is made of spinach puree, tomato, onion, ginger and garlic. I use a lot of garlic because in my opinion spinach and garlic go well together. I used homemade fresh cottage cheese (paneer). Many people prefer frying the cottage cheese (paneer) before adding it to the curry.
Palak paneer is a green colour curry that has basic spices and simple ingredients. It is served with plain paratha, lachha paratha, chapati or plain rice. It is a curry recipe that is full of flavours and healthy ingredients which make this dish commendable. As spinach is the key ingredient of the dish which is packed with lots of iron and is good for health.
Read More: Paneer Butter Masala
Palak Paneer Recipe
Ingredients
- Spinach leaves (palak) 350 gm
- Tomato 1
- Onion (finely chopped) 1
- Garlic 5 cloves
- Ginger 1 inch
- Green chilli 1
- Oil 1 tbsp
- Water 1/2 cup
- Garam masala 1/4 tsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Heavy cream 2 tbsp
- Paneer (cut in cubes) 250 gm
Method
- To a pot of boiling water, add a little salt and then spinach leaves to it. Blanch the spinach leaves for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted.
- Take them out and put them in ice-cold water. This helps the leaves in retaining their green colour.
- To a blender, add the blanched spinach along with tomato, 3 cloves of garlic, ginger and green chilli. Puree to a smooth paste and set aside.
- Heat a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the oil and then add the remaining 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Sauté for few minutes until it starts changing colour.
- Then add the chopped onions. Cook the onion for 2 to 3 minutes until soft and translucent.
- Add in the prepared spinach puree and mix. Also, add around 1/2 cup water at the point.
- Cover the pan and let it cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. The spinach will bubble a lot. Stir at regular intervals to avoid sticking at the bottom.
- Once the spinach is cooked, add the garam masala, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt. Mix and cook for 1 minute.
- Then add the heavy cream and mix.
- Stir in the paneer and mix. Let the curry simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Serve palak paneer hot with naan or roti or rice.
