Palak Paneer

Serves 2-4 people

Ingredients

Spinach (palak): 1 big bunch (judi), washed thoroughly, remove stems (datthal), chop coarsely (see note 1)

Onion: 1 medium, chopped fine

Tomatoes: 3 small, grate or grind (without skin) (see note 2)

Garlic paste (lasan): 1 tsp

Red chili powder: ¾ tsp

Green chili paste: 1 ½ tsp (1 long, 2 small) crushed to a paste (see note 3)

Cumin seeds (zeera): ½ tsp

Garam masala pwd: ¼ tsp small

Cottage cheese (paneer): made with 2 cups yogurt (dahi) or 1 packet of frozen. fried cubes

Salt: ½ tsp in sautéing spinach, ½ later or per taste

MSG (ajinomoto): ¼ tsp

Turmeric (haldi): ¼ tsp small

Lime juice per taste

Directions

Sauté spinach with ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp ajinomoto and ¼ tsp haldi. Do not add extra water.  Grind to a fine paste. 

Add oil to a thick bottomed pan (kadhai). Add cumin seeds. As they start to sizzle, add chopped onions and fry to a light brown (badami) color. Add garlic (lasan) paste, green chili paste and red chili powder.  Add tomato puree and garam masala.  Fry well till no water is left.  This makes a big difference to the taste so fry well. Add spinach (palak) paste.  Check for salt.  Fry paneer cubes (if working with fresh or unfried paneer) in a flat frying pan and add to palak gravy.  Before serving add a pat of butter (see note 4). Add lime juice if needed.

Serve with hot rotis

Notes:

1. Spinach (palak): you can substitute with 5 oz bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves

2. Tomatoes: to quickly remove tomato skin, immerse tomatoes in boiling hot water for a few minutes. Slice the skin with a knife. It will now be very easy to peel off. The longer you let the tomatoes soak in water, the more of the pulp will remain on the skin, so immerse only for 30 seconds to a minute maximum.

3. For ease, I chop the onion and green chilies together and fry together.

4. Instead of butter, use 1 tbsp sour cream for a creamier palak paneer