Palak Paneer – quick and easy, is an Indian dish made with spinach (sometimes made from kale), chopped cooked onions, yogurt, and paneer. It is best served when eaten with rice and chapathi. Someone who likes this dish the most will prefer to drink lemon or lime juice with it. The dish is very popular because it is easy to prepare and because it is the typical flavor of Indian cuisine.
Palak Paneer is a dish that is not one of the typical Indian cuisine dishes that most Europeans are familiar with: it is not biryani, dal or masala dosa . But it’s a dish eaten regularly by most adults in India. Above all, it is a dish not to be missed.
About Palak Paneer
Palak Paneer is a classic north Indian curry dish made from fresh spinach, onions, spices, paneer and herbs. “Palak” is a Hindi word for “spinach” and “paneer” is more Indian
Cottage cheese. So palak paneer means cheese cooked in a flavorful and delicious spinach sauce. The consistency is best compared to tofu.
The traditional method of making palak paneer is to blanch and then puree the spinach leaves. This spinach puree is then later cooked with Indian spices, onions and tomatoes. If it then has a thick consistency, similar to curry, the paneer is cooked in this sauce. Some cream is usually added for a restaurant touch.
My recipe for Palak Paneer
If you’ve tried palak paneer at an Indian restaurant before and weren’t satisfied with it, it probably has to do with the way it was prepared. My recipe will help you make the perfect Palak Paneer – Spinach with Indian Cheese. After trying different ways of making it, I finally came up with this version, which has been well received by everyone.
For best results, don’t blanch and don’t overcook your spinach. So to avoid blanching, we sauté the spinach first and don’t puree it.
If you like our Indian recipe, then these simple recipes might also inspire you:
- Sweet Potato Pumpkin Curry
- Nectarine tomato chutney with ginger vegan
- Chickpea Zucchini Curry
- Ayurvedic chickpea cabbage curry
- spicy vegan beetroot carrot curry
- baked sweet potatoes with beet feto topping
Palak Paneer – quick and easy
Ingredients
Palak – Spinach:
- 700 G baby spinach fresh
- 1 pc fresh ginger* about the size of a walnut
- 1 Onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 tbsp. ghee*
- 1 tsp Cumin* ground
- 1 tsp ground coriander*
- ½ tsp Turmeric*
- 1 prize Cinammon*
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 100 G Natural yoghurt
- kosher salt*
- Black pepper* from the mill
Paneer – Cheese:
- 250 G paneer indian cheese
- 150 G cocktail tomatoes
anything else:
- 50 G Natural yoghurt
- small Bunch of coriander
Instructions
- Wash and spin dry the spinach.
- Wash and dry tomatoes.
- Peel onion, garlic and ginger. Then finely dice.
- Cut the paneer into cubes (1.5 to 2 cm).
- Put two pans on the stove and work in parallel.
- In the first pan: Melt 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan. Sauté the onion, garlic and ginger in it until the onions are translucent. Add the ground spices and toast briefly until fragrant.
- Add the spinach to the pan and sauté until it wilts.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir 100 g of yoghurt into the spinach. Season with salt and pepper.
- In the second pan: Melt the remaining ghee and briefly fry the tomatoes together with the cheese cubes. Lightly salt and pepper.
Arranging and serving:
- Serve the paneer and tomatoes on top of the spinach.
- Enjoy with an extra dollop of yogurt and some cilantro!