Palak Paneer is the ultimate curry made with spinach (Palak) and golden pan-fried cubes of cheese (paneer). It is one of the milder curries and requires very less spices.
HOW TO MAKE PALAK PANEER
To be honest making palak paneer is not hard but it takes a bit of a time and lots of patience. There are no shortcuts unfortunately. Firstly to make palak paneer you need around 4-5 bunches of spinach. It may look a lot but remember we need only leaves( stems are discarded). The spinach is chopped, blanched and then pureed. It’s then cooked with spices and then milk is added. It is then left to simmer on low heat. Some recipe use cream, you can use either as it doesn’t change the taste. Finally the Paneer ( cottage cheese) is pan fried untill golden on all sides and then added to the spinach.
I used store bought paneer, its is easily available in Australian Supermarkets ( Coles and Woolworths). Its can also be purchased at Indian Grocery stores. If you really want to go an extra mile you can make you own paneer at home too. Fry it while turning it untill it golden on all sides.
DO’S and DONT’S OF MAKING PALAK PANEER
- Make sure you wash Spinach thoroughly as the leaves sometimes have fine sand. There is nothing worst then eating spinach that have gritty sand.
- When blanching spinach don’t cover the pot, it makes spinach dark in colour and it looks unappetizing.
- Don’t blitz the spinach into liquid puree. If you process it to much it will become liquid and of course we don’t want spinach souo ! Its best to use hand held stick blender or chopper.
- Don’t skim on oil, pureed spinach needs to be thoroughly fried in the oil. Firstly you will notice that spinach absorbs al the oil once its cooked the oil separates. You can always skim it out once its all cooked.
CAN FROZEN SPINACH BE USED FOR PALAK PANEER?
Yes you can use frozen chopped spinach. I have tried it many times and personally i don’t think there is any difference. Put the frozen spinach in a pot and cook on low heat untill its defrosted and little water remains. Follow the same procedure as given in the recipe.
VEGAN PALAK PANEER
Palak Paneer can be made into a vegan dish easily. Simply replace Paneer with Tofu. And use coconut milk instead of milk.
Make Ahead and freezing Option
You can make Palak Paneer in advance up to 2 days. Keep it refrigerated. And when it’s time to serve, heat it up well and add freshly fried paneer. Similarly you can freeze to but also without cheese. You can freeze with cheese too but i find it better to add freshly fried cheese as it looks fresh and frozen cheese doesn’t have same taste as fresh one.
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
SERVING SUGGESTION
I personally enjoy palak paneer with rice. The best rice to serve with palak paneer is Chicken Pulao or you can have Pea Pulao if you want vegetarian option. It is also great with naan. Try out this recipe Easy Naan (Flat Bread) for making great naans.
Palak Paneer
Ingredients
- 1 kg Spinach
- 1 Medium Onion
- 1 tsp Garlic Paste
- 1 tsp Ginger Paste
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- ½ tsp Cumin Powder
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ¼ cup oil
- ½ cup Full Cream Milk
- Paneer Cut in Cubes.
Instructions
- Pick Leaves from spinach discarding the stems. Chop the leaves thinly. Wash it thoroughly, rinsing water couple of times ensuring there is no sand remaining in the leaves.
- Put Spinach in a pot on medium low heat. The spinach will begin to soften and release water. Cook untill leaves are completely soft and little water is left.
- Take the spinach out and blend it using it hand stick blender or chopper. Make sure not to over process and make it liquid.
- In a pot heat oil and fry onions until transparent. Add garlic and fry for half a minute. Add turmeric, red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder. Mix and add half a cup of water. Cover and cook on low heat for 15 minutes.
- Add spinach and fry it for around 10 minutes continuously stirring it. Add salt. Once oil starts to appear on the top, add milk and cook for 15 -20 minutes on a low heat.
- In a frying pan add 2 tbsp of oil and fry paneer cubes turning them, until they are golden on all sides.
- Add half of the paneer in the spinach and the remaining can be garnished on top.
