Closet Cooking

Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Palak Paneer

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Palak Paneer

One of the recipes that I had bookmarked to try that used paneer was this one for a palak paneer . Palak paneer is a dish that consists of the paneer which is cooked in a spinach, tomato and onion gravy with Indian spices. Now that I had my own home made paneer I was ready to try making the palak paneer. In this dish the paneer is fried until golden brown on all sides before being added to the spinach gravy to simmer and absorb all of the curries flavours. The palak paneer recipe is pretty easy to follow though I did end up running into one problem. My mini chop ‘food processor’ was not up to the task of truly pureeing the spinach and my spinach gravy ended up being a bit chunkier than I had been hoping for but it was still really tasty. The homemade paneer worked really well in the curry having absorbed all of the tasty flavours of the gravy and it added a great texture to the dish. I served the palak paneer with some freshly made still warm naan which was also addictively good! One thing that I noticed about the palak paneer was that the leftovers tasted even better the next day as the flavours had a chance to mingle and develop a bit more.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer

Prep Time:30 minutes Cook Time:40 minutes Total Time:1 hour 10 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 cups paneer (cut into bite sized cubes)
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 onion (pureed)
  • 2 jalapenos (chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic (grated)
  • 1 teaspoon ginger (grated)
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 cup tomato (blanched, pealed and pureed or canned)
  • 3 bunches spinach (trimmed, blanched and pureed or 1 10 ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and pureed)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup water
directions
  1. Melt the butter in a pan.
  2. Add the paneer and fry until golden brown on all sides.
  3. Let the paneer soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
  4. Melt the butter in a pan.
  5. Add the cumin, onion and chillies and saute until brown.
  6. Add the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
  7. Add the chili powder, coriander, turmeric and tomato puree and simmer for 5 minutes.
  8. Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minutes.
  9. Add the garam masala, paneer and water and simmer for 15 minutes.
Similar Recipes:
Palak Dal
Butter Paneer Masala
Cashew Chicken Curry
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Katrina says

    July 20, 2009 at 1:14 am

    Kevin, you are amazing with all the different, interesting foods you make. A lot of which I've never even heard of–but everything always looks great!

    Reply

  8. Kerstin says

    July 20, 2009 at 2:35 am

    Looks amazing! Paneer with spinach is my favorite Indian dish and I like all the extra layers of flavor in this dish. I'm so impressed you made your own paneer!

    Reply

  11. Nina Timm says

    July 20, 2009 at 3:22 am

    It is quite a feeling of achievement that comes with making your own paneer!!! I enjoyed it so much, but I am trying this recipe for sure, next time!!!

    Reply

  12. Cate says

    July 20, 2009 at 3:24 am

    I like that this recipe isn't weighed down by 1/2 a cup of ghee, like some restaurant variations. I actually prefer the spinach more chunky and less pureed, so I would be happy with this!

    Reply

  21. Rachana Shakyawar says

    July 20, 2009 at 11:50 am

    Hi Chef;

    I trule luv your blog and recipes.
    I'm from India and this very recipe Palak-Paneer is from India.
    However, we never add Tomatoes in Palak-Paneer authentic recipe. Although we might garnish with the cream over the top!

    Cheers!
    Rachana Shakyawar
    Blog:Humming Today

    Reply

  34. Christie's Corner says

    July 21, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    I've been wanting to make saag paneer for a while. This looks like a lovely variation on the spinach theme. And I see your homemade paneer held together just fine. Must go buy some muslin.

    Reply

  35. vantiganloos says

    July 21, 2009 at 10:06 pm

    I wondered about soaking the paneer in warm water after cooking it? I"ve never done that before… I wonder why you did and would be willing to try it if it was remarkable… also I"ve made paneer in the past and it has melted upon frying… any hints?

    Reply

  38. Kevin says

    July 23, 2009 at 10:38 am

    vantiganloos: Paneer gets a bit hard when it is fried so I soaked it in the water to help keep it a bit softer. If you were going to be simmering it for a long time in a curry then you could probably skip it but I wanted the spinach to retain as much of it bright green colour as possible so I did not want to cook it for a long time.

    Reply

  41. Anonymous says

    August 12, 2009 at 6:07 pm

    This is one of our favourite dish.
    I always boil the spinach a day before I make the dish. this way it tastes better and does not have that "grassy smell".
    I puree the roma tomatoes and also add thinly sliced green chillies. I am impressed with your home-made paneer. I use the store bought Nanak Paneer, cube it and add it to the spinach. I never fry it. I think this way the paneer takes up the spinach flavour and also soaks up the extra liquid.

    Reply

  43. Lindsey says

    March 6, 2010 at 5:19 am

    You have a fanstastic blog!! I, too, cook in an itty-bitty kitchen. I love your recipe here for palek paneer, I used one one time from epicurious and though it tasted spectacular, it didn't feel as straightforward as your recipe. I am eager to try it soon—and attempt my first homemade naan.

    I think you have a fantastic blog, and I'm eager to visit again. I hope you don't mind if I make your blog a cooking resource for my readers?

    truly,
    Lindsey
    http://theadventuresofculinarylin.wordpress.com/2010/02/12/basmati/ here is my palak paneer–smoother than yours from my food processor, I like the authentic chunky look of yours!!

    Reply

  47. padmavathi@ Andhra recipes says

    August 30, 2015 at 5:11 am

    Very well explained recipes and paneer is my best choice of all time but i do have one question,, can pregnent eat palak paneer recipes?? please rely me i searched in google there are so many confused answer i hope you will give me correct answer

    Reply

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