Palak Paneer Recipe | Restaurant Style Palak Paneer | Spinach With Cottage Cheese

Happy July Everyone!! Long weekend is almost here and I cannot be more excited!! No, it's not the holidays, I will reveal the reason in my upcoming blog posts. I decided to start off the month with some greens and what better recipe to share than the king of all green leafy vegetables!! Palak Paneer.....!! Palak means Spinach and Paneer means Cottage Cheese. I will admit one thing, I was not fond of this dish much initially. I have had this couple of times in some restaurants and it didn't click much. It felt very bland and almost tasteless. Even baby food tasted better than that.(Yes, I have tasted it, don't judge me, and no, I didn't end up eating everything meant for a baby !!!)

This is one dish which I have tried 'n' number of times and I finally like what I eat. Perfect amount of spices, soft paneer and yes, the very main thing, at least appearance wise- dark green color for which this dish is known for!!

Post marriage, Rakesh ends up eating palak paneer way too often than he ever had had in his life. And I have no complaints about it. To start with, wash and cut stems off a fresh bunch of spinach leaves. I got mine from Whole Foods.


Depending upon the quantity of spinach, boil water accordingly and pour over spinach. Allow it to lightly heat up for few minutes. No need to over boil, we need the color intact and thus pouring hot water directly.

Drain the hot water and transfer the spinach leaves to a bowl filled with ice cold water.

In a blender, add the spinach, cilantro/ coriander leaves, green chili and puree it.

In a non-stick pan, lightly saute paneer till golden brown and keep aside. If you decide to do this first, it will be best to soak the fried paneer in cold water so as to prevent them from going hard.

Add ghee in a saucepan or kadhai, add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, minced garlic and green chili and saute till the raw smell goes in a low flame.

Add onions, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and cook on medium flame till the raw smell of spices subsides.

Add chopped tomatoes and cook till mushy. Some people do not add tomato, but I like it. Also, I have noticed, if we add tomato paste along with tomato, there is more depth to the dish and it tastes awesome. Sadly, I didn't have them, but I strongly recommend. Like - wise, you can also add pureed tomatoes and onions.

Add the spinach puree and some grated paneer. Believe me, this will take your dish to a whole new level.Add the fried paneer cubes and add juice of a freshly squeezed lemon, and yes, this is it which helps in retaining the green color.

Method:

1. Wash, Clean and cut the stems of spinach. Pour hot water over it and cook it for 3-5 minutes. Immediately drain the water and pour chilled ice water on the leaves.

2. Add cooled spinach leaves, 5-6 sprigs of cilantro/coriander leaves, 1 green chili in a blender and puree them without adding water.

3. Fry paneer cubes and keep aside.

4. Heat 2 tbsp of ghee, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2-3 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick. When it changes color, add 6-8 minced garlic cloves and 1 green chili minced. Saute on a low flame.

5. Add 1 chopped onion, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1.5 tsp coriander powder, 1.5 tsp garam masala powder and sauté on a medium flame without burning the masalas.

6. Add 1 chopped tomato and cook till mushy.

7. Add the pureed spinach and some grated paneer. Cook for 5 minutes on a medium flame. Add the fried paneer cubes and 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice.

Garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with rotis, rice or naans.

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