For the Blogging Marathon #115 for theme “One Vegetable, Three Ways”, I have chosen spinach and after these chapathis, here is the second recipe. I already have a palak paneer recipe on the blog – which was coincidentally shared during a previous BM theme! – but that is a super easy truncated version to say the least. Usually dishes like these are treated like “treats”, something you make when you have guests coming or that you order when you go into a nice vegetarian restaurant. This happens even though the ingredients used are very regular. Haven’t you felt that? 😉
Anyway, coming back to this delicious dish from the vegetarian repertoire of a beautiful state called Punjab, the regular Palak Paneer is indeed a treat. Time is taken to blanch the spinach so that it doesn’t loose its green color. Usually it is cooked in ghee or butter and finished off in some cream or a mix of cream with cashew paste. I have taken the cheat way and used yogurt to reduce the guilt feeling. Sometimes, I wonder, why do I do it! Food is supposed to be enjoyed as it is, but unfortunately food isn’t my best friend most of the time. Hehe… It is a very simple recipe with ingredients from the pantry, and apt for those paneer cravings! If you want more paneer recipes, do check out this tag to see whatever is already there on the blog!
Creamy Palak Paneer | Cottage Cheese with Spinach
Ingredients
- 2 bunch spinach leaves
- 4 cloves garlic
- 4 green chillies
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large onion minced
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 large tomato minced
- 300 gm paneer cubes thawed
- 1/4 cup yogurt
- 1 tbsp kasuri methi
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Roughly chop the spinach. Discard the stems. Bring water to a boil and soak the spinach for 2 minutes. Take off and drop into a pot of ice cold water. Drain after some time.
- Grind the spinach along with the garlic and green chilies to a smooth paste.
- Heat ghee in a saucepan. Splutter the cumin. Add the onion and saute till golden brown.
- Add the turmeric and chilli powders and cook for a minute. Add the tomato and some salt, sprinkle some water and cook till the tomato is totally mashed and oil floats on the top.
- Add the spinach puree and paneer and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whip the yogurt and whisk in to the mixture. Take off the flame while doing this so that the yogurt doesn't split. Cook for another couple of hours.
- Crush in the kasuri methi and sprinkle the garam masala. Serve hot with chapathis or rice.
This is a lovely recipe Rafeeda. Will surely want to try it sometime soon. We all love palak paneer and make it regularly. Though it has always been with cream. Our recipe is also very simple and yes you must eat without any restriction yaar..hahah…adding curds will surely a good taste to the gravy.
Looks so GOOD! Would be great with some rice or flatbread for a very satisfying meal.
I still remember that palak paneer you had posted..it was one of the easiest ones..but this recipe sounds delicious too. Palak paneer has so many versions and with the combo of these two I don’t think one can go wrong.
My son loves palak paneer and now with instant pot, I make a big batch of the spinach purée and freeze it to use whenever I need it. I always use almonds or walnuts instead of cashews in all recipes (for my husband’s cholesterol), so I never feel guilty. Milk is a good substitute too if you want to skip cream. But I think yogurt should also blend well with this curry.