Palak paneer

Since the COVID pandemic started we haven’t been dining at restaurants and we have been cooking a lot more at home. I am going to start sharing my recipes here . I cook by taste and I tend to add things until they taste right ! This is how I was taught how to cook. I am going to try to add objective measurements and directions for people who follow this blog. 

Palak paneer is a spinach dish with cubes of paneer ( Indian cheese) . 

Ingredients

Frozen (well thawed) or fresh spinach ( cooked ) - 2 cups

Paneer ( cubes) - 2 cups - can get the pre cubed and fried frozen kind or you can get a block of paneer and then cube and fry them until golden brown in butter 

Cumin powder - 2 tsp 

Garam masala powder - 2 tsp 

Onion - 1 large chopped into small cubes

Tomato - 1 large chopped into cubes 

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tbsp 

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp 

Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp

1 green chili - de seeded and chopped ( if you want it spicy you can use two chilies with the seeds )

Clove - 2 crushed 

Cream - 1/4 cup 

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste 

Butter or ghee- 2 to 3 tbsp for frying the paneer 

Oil- 2 to 3 tbsp 

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Take the spinach and purée it well in the blender and set aside 

If you have fresh paneer make it into medium sized cubes and fry it in the butter / ghee until golden brown and crispy on all sides and set aside 

Now in the pan put the oil and sauté onions until translucent and golden brown. 

Add ginger garlic paste and green chili and sauté it in with the onions. 

Add cumin powder, cloves, garam masala , chili powder, turmeric powder , salt and sauté in the oil. 

It is very important in Indian cooking to sauté the spices so it doesn't taste raw ( whcih is what most American restaurants do with curry powder- which gives it a raw bitter taste)

Once sautéed add the tomatoes and ensure they are cooked as well.

Add in the spinach purée and water (as needed to get the desired consistency of a gravy) and mix all the ingredients and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes ( spinach purée will have bubbles when it is hot). Make sure you stir once in a while to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning 

Add in the heavy cream and stir it in 

Now add in the paneer cubes and let cook for about 5 minutes on low heat. 

Now we are all done and ready to serve this with chapathi ( indian flat bread) or basmati rice. I have even used this as a filling this to make a palak paneer roll!