Palak Paneer is a very popular Indian dish made with juicy paneer cubes (Indian cottage cheese) in a smooth spinach sauce. I will be sharing two ways to prepare this healthy dish – a home version and a restaurant style version with charcoal smoking method (on readers’ demand).
The green palak paneer dishes are prepared with fresh palak leaves herbs, spices and masalas.this super delicious palak paneer recipes make by my easy step-by-step guide.
Home Style Palak Paneer Recipe
1.Palak paneer is one of the most popular Indian curries and for good reason too. This delicious creamy and vibrant green dish is prepared with paneer in a slightly spicy fresh spinach sauce. It is a delicious and easy vegetarian dish that you must try.
2. This delicious palak paneer is a family recipe handed down to me by my mom. She has been making this recipe for our family for years and I am so happy to share it with you here.
3. This is one of the most popular and favourite palak paneer recipes on the blog, not to mention our favourite at home. Rich in healthy nutrients like calcium, iron and vitamin C, it is the best food I have ever eaten.
4. In this recipe, I will show you how to blanch spinach quickly. This is done to give the dish a nice green color and also for some health benefits.
5. Did you know that boiled spinach is healthier than raw spinach? For this reason, I always recommend blanching spinach before using it in my spinach recipe collection.
6. This delicious Palak Paneer goes great with roti, naan or paratha. If you are gluten-free, you can serve it with jeera rice or biryani rice, saffron or ghee rice.
How to make Palak Paneer Recipe
7. Blanch the spinach and make a puree Using a colander or sieve, wash the spinach leaves (250 g or 0.55 lb) thoroughly under running water.Boil 3 cups of water in a pan, microwave or electric heater. Add half teaspoon salt to hot water and stir it.
8. Then add the lettuce leaves to the hot water. Keep the spinach leaves in the water for about 1 minute.If doing this on the stove-top, be sure to remove the pan from the hot burner.
9. While the water is boiling, make a bowl of ice water and keep it aside and Add 9 to 10 ice cubes to 2 cups of water to get cold water.
10. Drain the lettuce leaves after 1 minute.Immediately put the spinach leaves in a bowl of ice-cold water. This method of “shocking” the spinach helps preserve the vibrant green color of the spinach.
Leave the spinach leaves in cold water for a minute to stop the cooking process.
11. Drain in ice-cold water and press the spinach to remove excess moisture. Blend the spinach in a blender or grinder jar along with 1 inch of chopped ginger, 1 to 2 garlic cloves, and 1 to 2 chilies (green chilies).
You can use a hand-held immersion blender to make a puree if you prefer.
12. Blend the ingredients together to make a smooth spinach puree. There is no need to add water to make a puree. Keep the spinach puree aside.
Make the salad gravy
13. Heat 2 tbsp oil, ghee or butter in a pan or wok. I have used butter in the pictures below. If using butter, melt it on low flame and take care that it does not turn brown.
14. Add ½ tsp cumin seeds and fry them.After this, add a small to medium sized bay leaf.Add ⅓ cup finely chopped onion (1 small to medium onion).
15. Saute the onion till it turns golden.Then add 1 tbsp finely chopped garlic. Saute till the raw taste of garlic goes away, but prevent the garlic from turning brown.
16. Add ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes (1 small or medium sized tomato).Saute the tomatoes while stirring till they become soft.
17. Once the tomatoes soften and you see fat oozing out from the sides of the mixture, add ¼ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chili powder (or alternatively chili or chilli) and a pinch of asafoetida.
18. You can find agave at your local spice shop or on Amazon, but if you don’t have it, you can leave it out.Also, please note that many commercially available brands of asafoetida are processed with wheat. If you are gluten intolerant, please purchase gluten-free agave.
19. Mix well.Add the spinach puree to the pan Add water about ½ cup or as required. Mix and mix again. Cook the gravy on low flame for 6 to 7 minutes or more till the spinach puree is cooked. Add salt as needed. Now the gravy will thicken.Stir and add ¼ to ½ tsp garam masala powder.
Color the palak paneer
Stir again and then add the paneer pieces (200 to 250 grams of paneer) directly to the gravy.Fry paneer pieces in little oil until light brown and dip in lettuce gravy. In such a situation, you don’t need to cook the paneer further.
Mix gently and switch off the flame.Finally add 2 tablespoons of light cream or cooking cream or low fat cream. I used Amul brand cream. If using heavy whipping cream, add 1 tbsp.At this stage you can add 1 tsp of dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi) but this is optional.
Stir slowly so that the cream mixes evenly in the gravy.Serve palak paneer hot with roti, naan or paratha or jeera rice or ghee rice.
You can add some butter or cream to it while serving.Add a few drops of lemon or lime juice to the ginger julienne. Have fun!
Restaurant Style Palak Paneer
This dish is a restaurant style version of palak paneer, made with spinach puree, onions, spices and cheese. It has no tomatoes and is the best restaurant style palak paneer recipe you can make.
My father got this delicacy from his Punjabi friend who owns a famous dhaba on the outskirts of Mumbai.
On some occasions, my father used to bring palak paneer or paneer butter masala and dal makhani from uncle’s dhaba for us and we always enjoyed it as kids. The dhaba is closed now, but the memories remain.
Some days, when we are in the mood to eat restaurant-style food at home, I make this palak paneer recipe. The homestyle version I shared above is very different from this recipe.
The first difference is in the ratio of some of the ingredients included in this restaurant style palak paneer recipe. The other big difference is that this dish is cooked with a special charcoal smoking technique (called ‘dhungar’) which makes it a really classy dish.
I have not added any spices or sour ingredients in this palak paneer recipe. If you want it a little spicier, feel free to add 1 small to medium tomato after frying the ginger-garlic paste. Alternatively, you can also add few drops of lemon juice or dry mango powder.
Serve the palak paneer with a hot tandoori roti, chapatti, naan or jeera rice or biryani rice.
