Palak Paneer

Palak(Spinach) Paneer(Indian Cheese) is a famous North Indian dish that is very delectable, smooth textured dry curry dish. Calorie for calorie, this leafy green spinach has a delicate texture and jade green color that provides more nutrients than any other food. It is available almost year around, and that is the best part. As a south-west Indian ( I refer myself like that:) ) while growing up, palak paneer used to be a very special kind of dish, we ate mostly only when we went to the restaurants.

After I got interested in cooking, I used to have a mind block with respect to this dish as I thought it is a laborious dish to make because I had to make paneer from the scratch, cleaning spinach was a task in itself as we used to get mud rooted leaves and all... But now spinach is available in a clean and ready to use form, paneer is readily available too. Life is getting simpler, faster, quicker :) and palak paneer has become a staple food(dish) in my house.

I simply love spinach. There are days where I just saute it plain with garlic, salt and pepper and devour, and I am not even kidding. Various dishes can be dished out using this superstar green leafy vegetable, such as Spinach chicken, Spinach juice, Spinach pesto, salad, Spinach puffs, Spinach roti, poori etc etc.

After I have started my blog, I have made it several times and now finally got a chance to photograph it and pen it down here.


Let us take a look at this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spinach leaves (palak) frozen (or fresh leaves chopped roughly around 4-5 cups)
• 2 cups paneer cut in squares
• 1 onion big finely chopped
• 5-6 garlic pods roughly chopped
• 2-inch ginger roughly chopped
• 2-3 green chillies chopped
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• salt as per taste
• 3-4 tbsp oil

Preparation:

• If using frozen palak, thaw it in a microwave or in warm water.
• In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add green chillies, ginger, garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add palak leaves and mix everything. Cover and cook on med flame till the leaves wilt. 
• In a processor/blender make a coarse paste of this mixture and keep aside.
• In the same pan, add rest of the oil and add chopped onions, saute till translucent and add garam masala. 
• To this add the palak/spinach paste and cook for around 8-10 minutes, stirring in between. Add salt as per your taste. 
• Sprinkle salt and pepper lightly over paneer and you can shallow fry paneer separately on a grill(tava) or just gently add paneer pieces to the palak gravy.  Mix everything with a light hand. Simmer for another couple of minutes.
• Serve hot with rotis or with plain rice.  You can add a little bit of butter or drizzle heavy cream too while serving. 

njoY!! happY cooking!!

you may also enjoy leafy vegetables like methichi bhaji(fenugreek leaves vegetable) or mooli leaves (radish) pachadi

Health Benefits: Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties.