Palak Paneer

Ingredients

For palak puree:

• 200 to 250 grams fresh palak
• 1 or 2 hari mirchi, chopped
• 1 or 2 small to medium lehsun cloves, roughly chopped
• ½ inch adrak, roughly chopped
• 3 cups water for blanching palak
• 3 cups water for ice bath

For palak curry:

• 1 small to medium sized onion, finely chopped
• 1 small or medium sized tomato, chopped
• 4 to 5 small to medium lehsun cloves, finely chopped
• ½ tsp jeera seeds
• ¼ tsp haldi powder
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• A pinch of Hing
• ½ tsp garam masala powder
• 1 small to medium tejpatta
• 200 to 250 grams paneer
• ½ cup water or add as required
• 1 or 2 tbsp low fat cream
• 2 tbsp oil or ghee
• 1 tsp kasuri methi leaves
• Salt as required

Garnish:

• A few tsps of cream or butter for topping the palakpaneer
• ½ inch adrak, chopped
• Lemon or lime wedges or slices

Method

Making palak puree

• Rinse palak leaves very well in running water. Tender stem are fine but discard the stringy stems.
• Boil 3 cups water in a pan. Add salt to the hot water and stir. Then add the palak leaves in the hot water. Close with a lid and leave the palak leaves in water for 2-3 mins. Strain the palak leaves.
• Immediately add the palak leaves in a bowl containing ice cold water. This method helps in preserving the green color of the palak.
• Then drain the ice cold water. Add the palak in a blender with chopped adrak, lehsun and green chillies.
• Make a smooth palak puree. No need to add water while making the puree. Keep the palak puree aside.

Making palak curry

• Heat oil or ghee or butter in a pan. If using butter, melt it on a low flame making sure that the butter does not brown.
• Add the jeera and let them splutter& then add the tejpatta.
• Add the finely chopped onions. Sauté till the onions become golden.
• Add the finely chopped lehsun. Sauté till the raw aroma of lehsun goes away. No need to brown the lehsun.
• Add the chopped tomatoes. Stir and sauté the tomatoes till they soften.
• Once the tomatoes are softened and you see fat releasing from the sides of the mixture. Then add the haldi powder, red chilli powder and hing. Stir well.
• Then add the palak puree. Stir well.
• Add about 1/3 to ½ cup water or as required. Stir again.
• Simmer for 6 -7 minutes or more till the palak is cooked. Season with salt. The gravy or sauce will also thicken by now.
• Stir and add garam masala powder.
• Stir again and then add the paneer cubes.
• Stir gently and simmer on a low flame till the paneer cubes become soft and succulent. About 1 to 2 minutes.
• Lastly add cream. Stir gently again so that the cream gets incorporated in the palak paneer gravy uniformly. Switch off the flame.
• Stir and serve the palak paneer hot with some rotis, naan or jeera rice. Serve with a drizzle of few drops of lemon juice on top along with adrak slices.

Notes
The paneer cubes can be also be lightly fried and then added to the curry. In this case, you don’t need to cook the paneer in the gravy as when frying they are already cooked.