Palak Paneer

Hi Readers,

This is a traditional north Indian cottage cheese gravy. The main ingredients as per the name are cottage cheese and spinach. Cottage cheese is cooked in a spinach based gravy. Since, Spinach and cottage cheese both are very nutritious, this dish is one of the healthiest gravy. It uses much less spices unlike other Indian gravies. In most of the north Indian states spinach is not cooked with Onion, but garlic is a most. However, in Odisha we do cook spinach and other green leafy vegetables with Onion. In this recipe also I have used Onion. Yes, this is optional and you can skip adding it.

Lets now have a look at the recipe.

Ingredients :- 

Spinach 2 large bunches

Paneer (cottage cheese) 200 grams

Green chillies 2-3

Garlic 8-10 cloves chopped

Onion 1 medium chopped (optional)

Oil 3 tablespoons

Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Fresh cream 4 tablespoons

Method:-

Remove stems, wash spinach thoroughly in running water. Blanch in boiling water for two minutes. Refresh in chilled water.Squeeze out excess water. Remove stems, wash and roughly chop green chillies. Grind spinach into a fine paste along with green chillies. Dice paneer into one inch cubes.  Heat oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they begin to change colour, add chopped onion and garlic and saute for half a minute. Add the spinach puree and stir. Check seasoning & add salt. Add water if required. When the gravy comes to a boil, add the paneer and mix well.  Finally add fresh cream. Serve hot.