The Green Goddess - Palak Paneer

Dear Readers,

I am sharing one of my favourite recipes with you - Palak Paneer (Paneer in a spinach sauce) I may have mentioned earlier, this is one of my mother's specialties. Cheese and spinach is a great combination, we all know that but this is pretty special. Soft creamy paneer immersed in a delicious, green spinach sauce, yumm. The problem with me and writing recipes is that I do not follow recipes while cooking, specially Indian food, I like to go with the flow. It's all in my head and I keep tasting and modifying things. So writing recipes does not come naturally to me. Baking is different. I can be quite anal and precise while baking but cooking is all about tasting and adding things, for me anyways. So now that I am sharing a very common favourite of mine, writing quantities is proving a little hard. I have tried to be accurate but feel free to add your own spin to it.

Love,

Cookie

p.s.  Are you a go with the flow kind of cook or a recipe follower?

Recipe                                                                                               Print Recipe

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

300 g Paneer (cut into cubes)

1 Large bunch of spinach (washed & roots trimmed)

1 Onion (chopped)

2 medium Tomatoes (chopped)

2 tbsp Ginger Paste2 cloves Garlic crushed

11/2 tsp Roasted Ground Cumin

1 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

1 Cinnamon stick

Salt to taste

1 tbsp Oil

Method

Wash the spinach thoroughly and then blanch it in boiling water for about ten minutes till tender. Immediately plunge the spinach in cold water to retain the green colour. Puree the spinach using a blender.

Heat the oil in a wok and add the cinnamon stick to it. Now add the onions, ginger and garlic and cook till the onions are translucent. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add the cumin and chilli and a tsp of salt and cook for another ten minutes. Pour the spinach puree to the onion-tomato masala and cook for 5-10 minutes and then add the paneer cubes to it. Check the seasoning and add salt if required. Sprinkle the garam masala and let it cook for another 10 minutes. 

Palak Paneer is ready to be served. Enjoy with rotis or parathas.

Matar Paneer

This is another great Paneer dish in a tomato based gravy studded with green peas. Is perfect for a weeknight dinner as it doesn't take long to prepare.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

300 g Paneer - cut into cubes

11/2 cup frozen Green Peas 

1 medium sized Onion - finely chopped

5-6 cm Ginger- grated

4-5  cloves Garlic-grated

3 medium sized Tomatoes-chopped

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

1 tsp Coriander powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala

1 small piece of Cinnamon Stick

1 tbsp Vegetable oil

1/4 cup Coriander leaves

Method

In a pan heat a tbsp of oil. Add the cumin seeds and cinnamon stick to release flavour into the oil. Once cumin turns brown add the onion followed by the ginger and garlic. Sweat them out and cook till the onion and ginge-garlic start to brown. Add the tomatoes and cover it for 5-6 minutes. 

Now add the spices and salt. Give it a good mix and cook till oil starts to separate. Add the paneer pieces and give it a good mix so that the paneer is coated with the tomato gravy Add the peas after 5 minutes and cook till the peas and paneer are really soft (you dont want to over cook the peas, they should be cooked through but still nice and green in colour) Add half cup of water to loosen up the gravy if too thick. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with hot fulkas/rotis or rice. Enjoy!

Kadai Paneer

If you have never heard of or eaten paneer before, let me tell you, you have been missing out. Paneer is an Indian cheese and it is a very versatile ingredient. It is a dairy product, and is a good source of protein for vegetarians.

Paneer has a special place in my family. My mother makes some of the most delicious paneer dishes, her palak paneer (paneer in a spinach sauce) is world famous. The first time my husband visited Chennai (my hometown) my mother had made it, and he couldn't believe how good it was. It is luckily my husband's favourite ingredient too, its right up there with chicken. 

Yes yes he is a meat lover and I am a veggie lover and we live very harmoniously (well almost always). I think the best thing about our relationship is that we have always given each other the space to be an individual and be the unique personalities that we were always meant to be. I often get asked, isn't it hard? Or a non vegie friend may try to sympathize for my hubby, saying he's deprived (you dont cook no meat, what!!!). We usually laugh it off because we have never really found it to be an issue. We are both foodies, and love trying new restaurants as much as we love cooking at home. He's really sweet and always looks for the vegetarian dishes on the menu first, making sure I always have a choice (I am a lucky girl) my main concern with his food is making sure everything is free range and sustainable. Eating well and eating healthy is as important as eating right which means eating produce that is sustainable and not harming the environment.

I think its great to be different and have different beliefs as long as we have a common goal - our happiness before mine or his. What can I say it (we) just works!

This dish is one of my favourite Paneer dishes (well I have a lot of favourites) It is earthy, fragrant, beautifully bronze with hidden white and green jewels. Kadai Paneer is a spicy combination of green bell pepper and paneer in a spicy sauce cooked in a kadai  (wok).  Its best served with tandoori roti or parathas.

Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

250-300 g Paneer - cut into cubes

2 Capsicum - cut into cubes

6 cm piece of Ginger - make a paste, and a little julienne for garnish

6-7 cloves Garlic made into a paste

1 Onion - finely chopped

3-4 tomatoes pureed

1 Green chilli - finely chopped

2-3 Kashmiri dry red Chilli (use less if you dont want it too hot) dry roasted and ground

11/2 tbsp Coriander Seeds - dry roasted and ground

1/2 tsp Garam Masala

11/2 tbsp Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek leaves)

2-3 cardamom pods

4-5 cloves

1/2 cup Fresh Coriander leaves- dry roasted

2 tbsp light cooking Cream (optional)

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Salt to taste

Paneer

Kasuri Methi /Fenugreek

Method

In a wok heat the oil, add the cardamom and cloves to perfume the oil Let the cardamom start to colour then add the onions and cook till transparent. Add the green chilli, ginger and garlic and cook for another 5-6 minutes. Add the ground coriander seeds and kashmiri red chilli and mix it well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the salt and the tomato puree and cook till the oil separates. 

Add the capsicum and cook for another 5-7 minutes.Add the paneer to the wok. Add a the cream or milk and cook for 5-10 minutes till the paneer is tender. Add the kasuri methi and mix everything well. 

Garnish with coriander leaves and julienne ginger. Serve with rotis.