Spinach curry (palak paneer)
I love the combination of spinach and paneer, a fresh, creamy cheese used commonly in Indian food. Paneer, which you can make yourself or buy at some regular supermarkets, tames the bitterness of spinach.
Palak paneer used to be my go-to item to order at Indian restaurants. Then I moved to Seattle, which strangely doesn't have many good Indian restaurants, and I improved my own Indian cooking. It took me a long time to get this right.
Watch out for the amount of salt you add, as both the spinach and cheese can taste a bit salty on their own. I grind the cloves and cardamon, because I love the fresh flavor, but you can use already-ground spices instead. You can also bruise cloves and cardamom pods and toss them in whole, but they're hard to spot when mixed in with the dark spinach, and I've bitten into those by accident one too many times.
In my mother-in-law's recipe below, we use shahi paneer masala, which is available at local indian grocery store. I use this spice not only for making shahi paneer or spinach curry, but for red lentil, too. It is a useful spice to have. You can skip it if you don't have it.
Serve this with naan or rice.
Spinach curry (palak paneer)
Yield: Serves 4
17 ounce (or 500 grams) fresh spinach, chopped
7 ounce (or 200 grams) paneer
3 tablespoons of ghee or 4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoons of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
2 tablespoons of garlic, peeled and chopped fine
8 whole cloves (or ⅓ teaspoon ground clove)
4 green cardamom pods, lightly bruised (or ⅓ teaspoon ground cardamom)
1/2 medium onion, chopped fine
1/3 teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 1/2 teaspoon shahi paneer masala or 1 1/2 teaspoon of garam masala
2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves - Optional (methi patta, lightly roast in the pan so that it will be easily crushed by hands)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
6 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoon salted butter (if you are not using ghee)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons heavy cream
First, prepare the spinach. In pressure cooker, add 1 cup water and chopped spinach. Let the pressure cook sizzle. Turn down the heat before the pressure builds all the way. Let it cool down. Remove spinach and set the cooking water aside. Squeeze the excess water from the spinach and mince it very finely or grind it to a coarse puree.
Cut the paneer into bite-size rectangles of approximately ½ inch by 1 inch. Put the paneer in a bowl and cover with hot water. Once the paneer is warm and soft—about 30 minutes—strain it.
Heat ghee or oil over medium high heat and add the cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to crack, turn the heat to medium, add ginger, garlic, cloves, cardamom, and onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are a deep shade of brown (be careful not to burn them). Add the chili, coriander, shahi paneer masala, fenugreek, and turmeric. Let them cook about 5 minutes more. As needed, add a little water to prevent burning and it creates thick creamy texture.
Add the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of cooking water from the spinach. Stir occasionally to avoid burning, heat till boiling and let it cook for 10 minutes.
Add the spinach (and butter if you are not using ghee). Stir occasionally and cook for 5 minutes.
Adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt first and taste it. If it is not enough, add additional 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Add freshly ground black pepper
Add paneer and stir
Add milk. The consistency should be like pancake dough. If its too think, add a little more water from boiling spinach
Drizzle heavy cream on top, and serve warm.
