I got some fresh organic red spinach from the wet market complete with roots and snatched up the last bunch before it was all gone. I knew there are so many great recipes for palak paneer in our blogosphere so wasn’t too worried about finding one.
Zeroed in on Sailu’s blog, finally. I didn’t make many changes to her recipe, except for quantities of some. Be warned that this is not one of those quick and easy recipes. It takes time to cook but is definitely worth the effort and time.
Palak Paneer-Palak Paneer Recipe-Paneer Recipes
Serves 2
Ingredients for Palak Paneer:
Paneer – 1 cup
Spinach / Palak – 4 cups, shredded
Onions – 1 medium, chopped
Ripe tomatoes – 2 big, pureed
Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
Green chillies – 2, slit
Cumin – 1 tsp
Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 2 tbsp
Curry masala – 1 tsp (optional)
Cream/malai – 1 tbsp (optional)
Ghee – 1 tbsp
How to Make Palak Paneer:
1. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the paneer cubes lightly. Drain and set aside.
2. Add cumin seeds to the leftover ghee and let them splutter. Then add the onions and green chillies, frying lightly.
3. Add ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, coriander and curry masala and fry for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the tomato puree and let this paste cook for a good 10 minutes. It will splutter and fall all over your cook top so reduce flame to sim. Stir occasionally. Meanwhile, blanch* the spinach and make a paste in the same blender you used to puree the tomatoes.
Blanching is a cooking term that describes a process of food wherein the food substance, usually a vegetable or fruit, is plunged into boiling water, removed after a brief, timed interval and finally plunged into iced water or placed under cold running water (shocked) to halt the cooking process. – Source
5. Add the blanched spinach to the above paste and cook for another 10 minutes or so. The ghee will start separating at this point.
6. Add the fried paneer and required water with salt. I added very little water since I like a thick gravy for this dish. Combine and cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on how much water you have added.
7. Finally blend in the cream and stir in well before removing from fire.
I served it with chappathis but next time its going to be naan 🙂
Notes – Its not necessary to blanch the spinach if you don’t feel comfortable with the process. Boiling it in some water is also fine. Use that water later to make the gravy thinner as desired.
– The original recipe called for blanching and peeling the tomatoes. I avoided that too.
– Next time, I will try making a paste of the onions too because it was irritating to bite into it when the rest of the gravy was so creamy.
Your Cookery Book says
August 29, 2012 at 10:45 pmYour palak paneer recipe looks incredible. It is making me hungry.
Laavanya says
April 1, 2010 at 1:44 pmThat bunch of spinach looks so fresh and inviting. I'm a big fan of palak paneer too… have particularly fond memories of the ones had at dhabas near Delhi.
Maninas says
August 25, 2008 at 6:05 pmThanks very much for a great entry.
I love Sailu’s recipe, and have made this, too.
Mallika says
July 27, 2008 at 5:00 pmA-ha! Pop over to mine for a quicker and low fat version. I posted a saag paneer before but tried again and the second time it was much simpler.
Sig says
July 26, 2008 at 5:59 pmLovely pictures N, I love that bowl, very rustic 🙂
Nags says
July 25, 2008 at 1:29 amdelhibelle – i stay in woodlands so go to the one in admiralty station. They have spinach most of the time but its quickly sold out.
delhibelle says
July 24, 2008 at 1:53 pmLooks gorgeous Nags!
I have missed some delicious action from your blog it seems..
Which wet market do u reco BTW ?
Rajani says
July 24, 2008 at 9:05 amwowow Ilove palak paneer. this recipe sounds yummy – maybe when I’ve knocked off a couple more kilos I’ll give it a shot. The pictures are not showing for some reason maybe some server problem at my end.will try checking again later.
Also new blogger Reena (read her comment) needs to enable public access to the blog. I tried dropping by – without success.
Reena says
July 24, 2008 at 2:40 amplease visit my blog and leave your comments. I am a newbie at blogging
Laavanya says
July 24, 2008 at 1:34 amThat bunch of spinach looks so fresh and inviting. I’m a big fan of palak paneer too… have particularly fond memories of the ones had at dhabas near Delhi.
Nags says
July 24, 2008 at 1:24 amDhanggit – I couldn’t access your site, is it invite-only?
A – Its a bit different from other recipes I saw online but its really yummy. Do try it! You can also make aloo palak the same way but for me I prefer paneer any day! 😀
A&N says
July 23, 2008 at 1:13 pmI love Palak Paneer and Naan too! And this seems different no? Will try for sure.
Dhanggit says
July 23, 2008 at 11:31 ami love all the flavors on it!! hmmm i’ll probably give it a try this weekend 🙂 and the photos are mouth watering!!
Nags says
July 23, 2008 at 10:12 amThanks Shreya 🙂
Shreya says
July 23, 2008 at 9:48 amoh! forgot.. Congrats on the award:-) You truly deserve it!! Keep it up!
Shreya says
July 23, 2008 at 9:46 amHi Nags, wonderful use of red spinach, and with paneer, great combo. Great work on the template, the menu planner, labels all in place:-) See, it is simple! Good luck, and looking forward to real cool stuff here.
Nags says
July 23, 2008 at 9:34 amThanks Farida 🙂
LG – I love Sailu’s blog. Such practical and every day recipes! I turn to it all the time, just that for this recipe I made some changes so thought of posting 🙂
Aparna says
July 23, 2008 at 9:13 amI know what you mean. Akshaya could live on paneer alone (and a few other things like pasta and pizza)!
I also make an aloo palak somewhat like this.
LG says
July 23, 2008 at 7:41 amPP looks great! Red Spinach dal is something you must try from Sailu’s blog..it tastes yumm too.
farida says
July 23, 2008 at 4:30 amThis sounds like a great dish! With lots of flavors. Yum!
Because you have a yummy blog I just awarded you with an appropriate award:) Check out my blog:)