Palak Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy

Palak paneer, a bright, delicious, vibrant and of-course healthy North Indian dish. It is also one of the popular Indian paneer recipe along with Paneer(Cottage Cheese) Butter Masala/Paneer Makhani, Kadai Paneer, Paneer bhurji.

Palak paneer is made with soft paneer/cottage cheese cooked and simmered in a  smooth spinach gravy with few spices. Palak paneer goes well with rotis, naan, parathas and even zeera rice. Paneer can be substituted with tofu. Again like other dishes, this dish also has many variants and everyone has their own way to make it. I love to experiment little bit every time while preparing any dish. This particular recipe is quite simple and easy to make. So let’s get started…..

Cuisine: Indian, North-Indian

Recipe type: Main Course

Author: Rateka

Prep time: 20-25 mins

Cook time: 10-15 mins

Serves: 4

Level of cooking: Medium

INGREDIENTS:

• 200-250 gms fresh palak/spinach
• 1-2  garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2″ ginger, finely chopped
• 3 cup of water
• 2 cup ice-cold water
• 1 small-sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 small-sized tomato puree
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• A pinch of heeng/asafetida
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 1-2 bay leaf
• 200-250 gms of paneer
• 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tbsp curd/cream
• 1/2 cup of water
• Salt to taste

METHOD:

• Discard the stems, rinse the palak/spinach leaves very well in a running water.
• Boil 2-3 cups in  a pan, add spinach leaves to it and bring it to boil.
• Strain the palak leaves and immediately add the blanched palak in a bowl of iced water for 2-3 mins. This process helps in retaining green color of the spinach.
• Add blanched spinach leaves to a blender and grind to make a smooth puree.
• Take a cooking vessel, heat oil, add heeng, cumin seeds and bay leaf.
• Add chopped ginger-garlic and sauté till raw aroma goes away.
• Add chopped onions and sauté till golden brown.
• Add tomato puree, mix well for a  minute.
• Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and sauté well.
• Once you see fat releasing from the sides of the mixture, add palak puree along with 1/2 cup of water, salt and stir well.
• Let it simmer for about 6-7 mins, then add garam masala powder and stir well.
• Add paneer cubes, stir gently and let paneer gets simmered in the palak puree for 1-2 mins till paneer becomes soft.
• Add cream/curd, stir gently to get it incorporated in the gravy uniformly and then turn off the gas.
• Serve hot with hot roti/bread and enjoy 🙂

TIPS:

• Paneer can be replaced by tofu.
• You can also fry paneer cubes before adding it to palak gravy.
• If you are using curd in your gravy, whisk it well before adding to the gravy.
• Curd/cream is added to cut down and balance the bitterness of the spinach leaves.

 

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