Palak Paneer

A simple North Indian dish made with spinach & cottage cheese.

These recipes that I write down are simple & the gharelu (homely ) type & not the restaurant variety. Having lived in the North for most of my life & in lots of places too , I have, over the years, picked recipes from friends & neighbours as they make it daily at home.On a daily basis ,everyone makes simple & nourishing food. The rich & heavy stuff is made for guests or on holidays & weekends to be savored at leisure.

Contrary to what most of us think about North Indian food, it is not at all oily. Only the North Indian food served in restaurants is so. & unlike the complicated recipes that you find in the cook books, they are fairly simple too .
So do check it out.

Ingredients


fresh paneer (cottage cheese ) - 200 gms
spinach - 1 big bunch, washed, & leaves picked
onion - 1 large, diced roughly
tomato - 1 large, roughly chopped
green chillies - 2
kasuri methi ( dried fenugreek leaves ) - 1 tbsp
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
oil - 2 tbsp
salt to taste

Method

1. Blanch the spinach in a little water & keep aside. After it cools down, grind it in the mixer, without the water, for just a minute.Do not make it too smooth.
2. Grind the onion, tomato & green chillies in the mixer.
3. Heat the oil in a kadhai. Add the onion- tomato paste - green chilli paste. Add the turmeric & chilli powder & cook on medium flame untit is well fried, ie, until the oil comes out from the sides.
4. Add the kasuri methi & fry for another 2 minutes.
5. Now add the spinach to the kadhai. Put the salt in & mix & cook on low flame for 4-5 minutes.
Chop the fresh paneer into small cubes & add the spinach. Bring to a boil & switch off.
6. Serve hot . Garnish with cream if you like.

P.S - I have not fried the paneer in this recipe but have used the fresh & soft ones that are available locally. But if your paneer is of the frozen variety or not so fresh..........you could fry them in oil or ghee & then soak them in hot water for a while until you need them. This will make the paneer a bit soft.

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