Palak Paneer Recipe
Rated 5 stars by 1 users
Category
North Indian Curry
Servings
4
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
30 minutes
Calories
350
Palak Paneer is a simple, healthy, creamy popular delicious north Indian dish that is smooth and made with panner (cottage cheese), onions, tomatoes, fresh spinach leaves, herbs, spices.
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Ingredients
2 Inch Dalchini (Cinnamon)
1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds (Jeera) - Optional
4 Laung (Cloves) - Optional
4 Elachi (Green Cardamoms) - Optional
15 to 20 Cashew Nuts or Almonds
6 Tbsp Cream - Optional
1 and 1/2 Tsp Garam Masala (Adjust To Taste)
Salt To Taste
4 Less Spicy Slit Green Chillies
1 Tsp Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves) - Optional
1 Cup of Finely Chopped Tomatoes or 2 Small Cups of Tomato Puree
2 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste
4 Tbsp of Oil or 2 Tbsp of Butter
1 and 1/2 Cup of Finely Chopped Onions or 2 Small Sized Chopped Onions
100 Grams or 6 Cups of Tightly packed Spinach / Palak
2 and 1/2 Cups or 150 Grams of Indian Cottage Cheese / Paneer / Tofu
Whole Spices For Palak Paneer (Optional)
Main Ingredients For Palak Paneer Curry
Directions
Preparation To Make Palak Paneer
Add the spinach / palak leaves to a large bowl of water and rinse them for a few minutes. Drain the water completely and keep the leaves aside.
Heat 1/2 tbsp of oil in a pan and saute cashews, spinach, green chillies for about 3 to 4 minutes until the raw smell of the spinach goes away
or
Put palak / spinach, 1/4 tsp salt for 2 minutes in 4 cups of hot water. Then place the leaves in ice cold water and later drain the water completely.
Cool it completely and blend them along with 1/4 cup of water to make a smooth & thick puree. To help in blending, you can even add 1 to 2 more tbsp of water.
Procedure To Make Palak Paneer Gravy
Heat 1 tbsp of butter, 1/2 tbsp oil in a pan and add cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, cumin seeds.
When the spices begin to splutter, add onions and fry until they turn into golden colour.
Add ginger garlic paste and saute for 1 to 2 minutes until the raw smell fades off.
Add the salt to taste and chopped tomatoes. Saute and fry till the tomatoes become mushy.
Add garam masala and saute for about 2 minutes.
Add 3/4 cup of water and cover the pan with a lid. Now cook until the onions completely turn soft. For a little gravy consistency, there should be some water left in the pan.
Reduce the flame (low). Add kasuri methi and spinach puree. Cook for about 2 minutes by mixing well at intervals until you can see bubbles.
Add a few tbsp of hot water, if the curry consistency is too thick.
Do not overcook. Add paneer pieces and mix thoroughly.
Turn off the flame and transfer the gravy to a serving bowl.
You can garnish the gravy curry with cream and serve hot with roti, nan, phulka, paratha or steamed rice.
Recipe Note
* For a smoother gravy, after adding and sauteing the tomatoes, onions, garam masala, cool the gravy. Now add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water to it and blend to make a smooth puree. Cook until you can see the oil oozing out of the curry. Now add the palak / spinach puree after the gravy thickens.
* Whole spices are optional but they really add a spicy flavour to the gravy dish if added as mentioned. You can skip if needed and can add more garam masala to your taste.
* While using the store bought / packaged paneer, cut them into pieces and add them into 2 cups of hot water immersed for 10 minutes. Later drain the water and then use them in the recipe. This is to make the paneer smooth and tasty.
* 1 Cup is equal to 240 ml.
* 1 Tbsp means Tablespoon.
* 1 Tsp means Teaspoon.