Punjabi Palak Paneer – Spinach curry with paneer
An easy, creamy and rich recipe of paneer cooked in a flavorful spinach gravy. Healthy, nutritious & delicious dish from North India that is one of the favorites among vegetarian “restaurant” food as well as to cook at home.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For spinach puree:
- 1 lb Fresh spinach 450 gm
- 1 green chili optional
- ½ inch ginger
- 2 cloves garlic
- Water
- Ice cubes/cold water
For the curry
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 green cardamom
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- A pinch asafoetida
- ½ cup finely chopped white onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- ½ cup finely chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 10 oz paneer or Tofu – see notes or 1 batch paneer from the recipe on kitchendocs.com
- Salt
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi dry fenugreek leaves (optional)
Instructions
To make puree
- Set a big saucepan on high heat with about 3-4 cups of water. Salt the water, cover the pan with a lid and bring the water to a roaring boil.
- As soon as the water starts boiling, add in the washed spinach leaves. Blanch for 3-4 minutes; carefully drain the spinach, remembering to save about a cup of the water in which spinach was blanched. Immediately dunk the spinach in a bowl full of ice water to stop the cooking and retain the gorgeous green color of the spinach.
- Drain the spinach, transfer it to a blender along with green chili and ginger, and grind to a coarse paste so that spinach retains some of its texture. Set the spinach aside.
To make the curry
- Set a heavy bottomed pan on high heat. Add oil and wait for it to heat up. Once the oil is nice and shiny, add green cardamom, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Wait for 30 seconds before adding the garlic and chopped onions.
- Lower the heat to medium high and let the onions brown a little bit, about 4-5 minutes.
- Add all the coriander powder, mix and add the chopped tomatoes. Lower the heat to medium, bhoono the tomatoes along with the masala till the moisture dries up and tiny droplets of oil start appearing on the edge of the masala, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add the spinach puree, salt to taste and cook covered for another five minutes.
- After five minutes add paneer and garam masala along with kasuri methi. Mix, give your palak paneer a taste check, and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Cover and let the flavors marry for 5 minutes before turning the heat off. Let sit for another 10 minutes before serving.