Palak Paneer

Posted on Jul 30th, 2015

by Sowmya Venkatachalam

Categories:

Palak Paneer, Soft paneer or Indian cottage cheese are cooked in spinach and spice gravy and garnished with rich cream, a best combination for Roti/Chapati and even for pulao. It is one of the most popular Paneer variety along with Paneer Butter Masala and Kadai Paneer. Most of us love paneer, especially kids. Paneer dishes are always rich and so yummy and a perfect accompaniment for any Indian Breads. This Palak Paneer is also a popular Paneer dish served in many restaurants. Try this version of Palak paneer and I m sure you are going to love it.

Quick Video Version

Preparation Time	10 mins
Cooking Time	30 mins
Servings	4

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach	1 Bunch
Paneer Cubes	1 Cup
Tomato	2
Onion	1 Big Size
Garlic Cloves	3
Ginger-Garlic Paste	1 tablespoon
Cumin Powder	1 teaspoon
Coriander Powder	1 teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder	1 teaspoon
Green Chilli	2
Turmeric Powder	1/4 teaspoon
Fresh Cream (Optional)	1 tablespoon
Cinnamon Stick	1
Cardamom	2
Cloves	2
Bay Leaf	1
Cumin Seeds	1 teaspoon
Kasoori Methi(Dry methi leaves)	1 tablespoon
Cooking Oil / Butter	1 tablespoon

Palak Paneer

Method:

I used store bought Paneer Cubes. If you have paneer bar, cut them into 1/2′ inch cubes. We can use the paneer cubes as such or we can fry it a little in the pan with a teaspoon of ghee. This is not mandatory. We can also soak the refrigerated paneer cubes in hot water for 5 minutes and then we can use it directly. But, I personally prefer to fry it a little so that they have a very good aroma. Take a pan and add a teaspoon of butter and fry the paneer cubes till they become slightly brown color

Chop the leaves of the spinach and wash it in cold water first. Then heat a pan of water and add salt to it and allow it to boil. When the water starts to boil, add the spinach leaves and allow it to boil for 2-3 minutes. The spinach will cook in no time. Do not close the pan as closing the pan would make the spinach loose its colour. Once the spinach is boiled for a couple of minutes, use a colander to drain the water and immediately rinse it with cold water to prevent the discolour of spinach. The green colour and texture of the spinach is more important for this dish

Finely chop the onions and garlic cloves and keep it ready. Cool off the spinach and grind it to a paste in a mixer. Boil another cup of water in a vessel and remove from flame. To that add tomato and cover it with a lid.

After 5 minutes, take out the tomato, remove its skin and add it to the mixer and grind it to get the puree

Heat a pan with butter or cooking oil. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom and fry for a second. To this add cumin seeds and when the cumin seeds starts to sputter, add chopped garlic and fry for 10 seconds

Then add chopped onions along with a pinch of salt and keep the flame medium and saute the onions till they become light brown colour. Then add ginger-garlic paste and turmeric powder and mix well

Then add crushed methi leaves powder and to this add tomato puree and keep the flame low. Also add cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilli powder and mix well.

When the oil starts to ooze out of the gravy, add the spinach puree and add necessary salt and mix well. Allow the gravy to boil in low flame for 5-6 minutes. Add fresh cream and mix well

Finally add paneer cubes and mix well in the spinach gravy and allow the palak paneer to boil in low flame for 5 minutes and then switch off the flame.