Palak Paneer/ Saag Paneer Recipe
This recipe is on the request of a friend lowlands_girl and it is really overdue. Sorry, lowlands_girl I hope you enjoy it.
Palak Paneer/ Saag Paneer Recipes:
Ingredients:
Some tips:
I usually cook it like this, some variations in the recipe you can try would be (the amount to be used is according to about 24 ounces of spinach)
i)if you like onions, you can chop the equivalent of 2 medium sized onions finely and add it in the process immediately after 4, and sauté the onions till they become translucent or slightly pink, or a nice olden brown - again it depends on how you like them
ii)if you like it spicier, you can add roughly around a tablespoon of curry powder or garam masala, right after you add the onions, yes, you have to use the onions in this case; stir to get the flavours enhanced should take about a minute.
iii)if you prefer using tomatoes instead of lemon, just substitute the lemon juice in the recipe with about a cup of tomato concasse and if you are feeling lazy like I often do, just grate it instead of blanching it and peeling it and then chopping it. Comes out about the same. You have to add it in after the onions and you will add the curry powder after the tomatoes have cooked.
iv)if you like the taste of natural yoghurt or buttermilk, substitute it for the cream, just whisk it before you put it in the gravy. You will want to adjust the lemon for the sourness quotient.
Serve hot with Indian breads like Naan, roti, paratha or rice.
Palak Paneer/ Saag Paneer Recipes:
Ingredients:
- Approximately 500 or 600grams (about 24 oz.) tender spinach washed
- 2 green chillies chopped
- 2 cups diced cottage cheese cubes
- 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter) / butter / oil (any cooking oil you normally use)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- Salt to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon cream (you can use any variety of cream you generally use for cooking or you can skip it also)
- Lots of finely chopped fresh coriander to garnish
- Wash the palak/spinach well in lots of water and chop if necessary. (This will depend on the size of colander you have to blanch it)
- Blanch the spinach in lots of boiling salted water for about 3 minutes. Refresh in chilled water. Squeeze out excess water gently and blend to a fine paste with the green chillies. (Adjust the green chillies depending on the hotness index of the chillies you are using)
- Deep fry the cottage cheese cubes in moderately hot oil till light golden in colour. Drain on absorbent paper. [I hate deep frying Paneer, I generally soak it in warm (not hot) water, to which I add some salt, some turmeric and some lemon juice; I drain it before I want to pop it in the wok/kadai/pan]
- Heat the clarified butter / oil in a heavy-based pan. Add the cumin seeds and let them crackle. Add the garlic and ginger. Fry briefly till the raw smell goes away.
- Add the chopped spinach puree, salt and mix well. Add water if required to get a gravy of desired consistency and bring to a boil. Add the prepared cottage cheese cubes and stir to mix gently. Mix in the lemon juice. Simmer for about 4 minutes. Put off the heat and mix in the cream.
- Garnish with chopped fresh coriander.
Some tips:
- Do not overcook the spinach; it will turn from a beautiful green to a muddy green colour.
- Put in the paneer when you heat before serving. The less the paneer is cooked the better. Reheating paneer often makes it hard and chewy, rather than keeping the pieces soft.
- If you do not fry the paneer, remember it will soak up more of the gravy. Also, if it is not well set, it may crumble if handled too much.
- Though it does not taste exactly the same ricotta cheese can be substituted for paneer.
- Generally, you know it is done if the oil starts separating from the stuff in the pan and the raw smell goes away.
- You can use fried onion rings (not the frozen battered ones, but the ones browned in a pan) for garnish, or even raw onion rings. If you are enthusiastic you can also carve a tomato and use it for garnishing.
I usually cook it like this, some variations in the recipe you can try would be (the amount to be used is according to about 24 ounces of spinach)
i)if you like onions, you can chop the equivalent of 2 medium sized onions finely and add it in the process immediately after 4, and sauté the onions till they become translucent or slightly pink, or a nice olden brown - again it depends on how you like them
ii)if you like it spicier, you can add roughly around a tablespoon of curry powder or garam masala, right after you add the onions, yes, you have to use the onions in this case; stir to get the flavours enhanced should take about a minute.
iii)if you prefer using tomatoes instead of lemon, just substitute the lemon juice in the recipe with about a cup of tomato concasse and if you are feeling lazy like I often do, just grate it instead of blanching it and peeling it and then chopping it. Comes out about the same. You have to add it in after the onions and you will add the curry powder after the tomatoes have cooked.
iv)if you like the taste of natural yoghurt or buttermilk, substitute it for the cream, just whisk it before you put it in the gravy. You will want to adjust the lemon for the sourness quotient.
Serve hot with Indian breads like Naan, roti, paratha or rice.