Palak paneer

TIME3 hours MAKES6 servings PORTION
0.5x 1x 2x 3x

A delicious, homemade, palak paneer based on the recipe by Marion Gasby. This recipe makes a lot of sauce compared to the amount of paneer — I like to grill chicken using my butter chicken marinade, and allow it to cook through in the leftover sauce to make chicken saag.

INGREDIENTS

  • 500g spinach
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 red onion (diced)
  • 1 inch ginger (grated)
  • 3 garlic cloves (grated)
  • 2 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
  • 3-4 dried red chillies
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds (toasted and roughly pounded in a mortar and pestle)
  • 60ml heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp kasoori methi (toasted)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tsp salt

Paneer

  • 2L whole milk
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) lemon juice
  • 1 tsp salt

STEPS

Paneer

  1. Heat the milk in a large saucepan and cook over high heat until just at the boil. Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the lemon juice and the salt — stir until the milk has curdled.

  2. Remove from the heat, and pour into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie the corners of the cheese together to form a tight package around the curds, and rinse under cold water before squeezing out as much moisture as you can.

  3. Place the cheesecloth on a plate, top with another plate with some heavy cans on top, and leave in the fridge for a minimum of two hours.

Palak paneer

  1. Chop the paneer into 5 x 2 cm rectangles. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, add ghee and fly the paneer on both sides until golden. Remove and set aside.

  2. Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 3 minutes, drain, and run under cold water to halt the cooking. Process with an immmersian blender (and a small amount of water if necessary) until you have a smooth spinach puree.

  3. In a frying pan or cast iron pan, fry the onions, ginger, and garlic in the ghee until softened and fragrant. Add the toasted cumin seeds and the dried chillies for a few minutes, and then add the chopped tomatoes. Leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes have fully broken down.

  4. Add the pureed spinach and 1/4 cup of water, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Then, the cream, and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

  5. Stir through the kasoori methi, paneer, salt, and garam masala. Drizzle with extra cream, and serve with rice or roti.

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