Popularly called palak paneer in India, it’s an extremely tasty dish and very healthy. Spinach or palak is good source of protein, iron, calcium where as cottage cheese is a good source of protein and calcium. This dish is very versatile and can be relished at any point of the day.
So what Is palak paneer and why to eat it. Paneer is Indian cottage cheese so if you can’t get panner in your local markets you can add a table spoon of vinegar or lemon juice to milk while it’s on the stove and allow it to curdle. Strain the water from the milk residue and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled down knead the curdled milk into a dough consistency. Be patient with it and keep kneading. Once you form a dough like structure spread it evenly on a plate with a decent amount of thickness, cut them into cubes and voila your home made paneer is ready.
So why to eat palak panner, it’s a healthy addition to a balanced diet it gives you the required amount of protein, calcium and iron. This curry is very rich in it’s flavour. So here is the diversity it can be an extremely rich curry or a very healthy it all depends on how you cook it, here I will give you the healthy recipe and also the richer version simultaneously, if you want to have a cheat meal. Palak paneer is best served with naan, paratha ( wheat tortilla ), or even jeera rice let me know if you want a recipe on jeera rice in the comments.
Ingredients
3 bunches of spinach
150 -200 grams of paneer
Spices 3/4 table spoon each
One large chopped onion
5-7 Cloves of garlic
1/2 table spoon of ginger paste
salt to taste
( If your using ginger garlic paste then reduce garlic cloves )
So here is the detail picture of spices. All of these spices are 3/4 table spoon each except hing it’s just a pinch. If you have hing, you can alter it with a pinch of mustered powder it works roughly the same. Get all your ingredients ready and lets start cooking.
Prepration;
First and fore most step I say don’t skip this, boil your panner this is important because it tenderises the paneer cubes. Just add the paneer to boiling water with a table spoon of oil and boil them for 5-7 minutes.
Add a table spoon of oil if you’re making it rich add 3 table spoons butter, heat the oil and add in spinach, garlic, one onion and it cook till the spinach looses its’s water and reduces in volume. If your going in with the richer version add in cashews.
Once the spinach is cooked let this mixture cool for a while and add it to a food processor and blend them and make a paste out of it , if the consistency is very thick add a splash of water. While your paste is getting ready add a tablespoon of oil (3 table spoons of butter if you’re going for a richer version), in a pan allow it to heat up.
Once the oil is hot add in ginger paste, add some chopped onion (this is optional) and saute them. While the onions are caramelising add in the spices as mentioned in the ingredients and brown the onions. Once the onions are brown add the spinach paste and some water maintaining a semi gravy consistency.
Once the gravy is ready add in the paneer cubes and let it simmer for 5-10 minuets ( here you can add in some fresh cream if you’re going for richer version) and it’s done! Homemade goodness, serve it with roti and enjoy.
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