Palak Paneer
To break down the name, Palak in Hindi means Spinach and Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. You put them together with some aromatic spices and you get luscious aromatic paneer curry. You can pair the dish with jeera rice (cumin rice) or roti (Indian wheat flat bread). I often make roti unless I want to indulge with my yeast free Instant Naan.
Palak Paneer vs Saag
Typically, in North India, Saag is referred to a mix of mustard greens and spinach. So saag paneer would have a mix of greens. Palak Paneer calls for only spinach. For the authentic taste of this dish, avoid the baby salad spinach that you get in packets. Get the large spinach leaves for the rich taste and flavor.
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What spices are added in Palak Paneer
There are multiple versions of the dish and we all make it as per our taste bud. The key ingredients are obviously paneer and palak. The spices that I like to add are:
Bay leafFennel seedsCumin seedsCumin powderCoriander powderGaram masala powder (here is a link on how to make garam masala at home)
Do you add onion and tomatoes to Palak Paneer?
Most people add both onion and tomato, but I don’t like to add tomatoes. I stick to ginger, garlic and onion.
The steps are super simple:
Quick boil the leaves then blend it to puree.Cook the finely chopped onion, garlic, green chili and ginger with the spices.Add the spinach puree, add the paneer cubes and cook for a while.Finish with garam masala.As you can see it’s a super quick meal for any day.
How do you get that bright green color?
The trick is to add a tiny pinch of baking soda when boiling the spinach leaves. This trick works effortlessly and this dish stays gorgeous green even the next day.
Keeping the paneer soft!
Store bought paneer are often little hard. So, once you slice the paneer block, dip the slices in warm salt water for 15 minutes, before adding to the curry. Irrespective of how you make this dish, the combination of spinach with cumin powder, paneer and ghee is absolutely delicious and unbeatable! It’s healthy, protein packed and gets ready in less than 30 minutes. Do give a try, if you haven’t already.
Here are more Paneer Dishes to Try!
