I don’t know about you, but I love spinach. A quick saute in a little olive oil, a shake of salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon are soooo good! Plus it’s a super quick side dish for weeknights that goes with almost anything. But the same thing too often can get a little boring. This palak paneer recipe will change that. Palak paneer is a vegetarian spinach curry that has been a favorite of mine for a long time. And like the rogan josh I made earlier this week, it’s been ages since I’ve had it. That’s about to change!
Palak Paneer is a quintessential Indian dish, a favorite across the length and breadth of India. Made using Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) and spinach puree, this dish a delight to eat with any Indian bread.
The Ingredients
The list of ingredients for this recipe is long, but most of it is basic stuff that’s easy to find. The only item that might be difficult to find is the paneer cheese. That might require a special trip to a local Indian market or you can make it with 2 ingredients in under an hour. I used this paneer recipe and had it ready in just under 40 minutes. This recipe makes about double the amount of paneer you need for palak paneer, but you can freeze the extra to use later.
Also, if you make the paneer ahead of time, cut it into cubes and store it in water to keep it from souring or the outside from hardening. I used an airtight plastic container and changed the water each day until I was ready to make my palak paneer.
The Process
There are almost 20 steps to this recipe, but don’t let that intimidate you. The author broke everything down, and it makes the instructions very easy to follow. There are also lots of pictures in the accompanying blog post, which came in very handy.
I wasn’t sure about the steps involving the coal, but her pictures showed me exactly how to do it. I used a piece of charcoal for burning incense in a ramekin dish and lit it with a long candle lighter.
The prep work took exactly 10 minutes and cooking took 39 minutes. Total time spent on this recipe was 49 minutes, just slightly longer than the 40 minutes listed.
The only change I might make to this recipe is frying the paneer a bit before adding it to the spinach puree mixture. I prefer my paneer softer than it got just by heating it in the spinach mixture. Plus frying browns the outside and makes it a little crisp. It’s a nice texture.
