Palak Paneer

Our family favourite curry!

I used to do a much longer version of this recipe but I’ve now simplified it to make it a quick one pot meal which can be put together quickly for a satisfying weekday evening meal! I make it less spicy as the kids prefer it that way but if you like heat feel free to up the spice levels to suit your palette.

Don’t be alarmed by the list of ingredients! If you like curries you can get most of them from any asian store and you can use the same basic spices for most Indian curries!

Overview

• Serves: 4-6
• Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

• 500g fresh baby spinach (I’ve tired this with frozen spinach but I think the fresh spinach flavour is much better!)
• 600g of store bought panner cubed (I use Tesco panner which comes in a 200g pack)
• 2 medium cooking onions finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic minced
• Ginger half an inch
• 500gms can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 or 2 chopped green chillis slit (deseed the chilli if you prefer or skip altogether)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil (I’ve used groundnut oil)
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• Pinch of asafoetida powder (hing)
• Half tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 2/3 tsp dry mango powder
• 2 tbsp kasturi methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh lemon to taste
• Chopped coriander leaves for garnish
• 100 ml whole milk or cream (optional)

Method

1. Put oil to heat in a large pan
2. Once the oil is hot add cumin seeds and wait for a couple of seconds till they sizzle
3. Add asafoetida powder, then add garlic and green chillis and saute for a few seconds
4. Add the garam masala
5. Add onions and grate the ginger
6. Add a bit of salt and saute for a few minutes till the onions start to get some colour
7. Add turmeric powder
8. Add chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes
9. Add cumin powder and coriander powder and cook for a few minutes
10. Add fresh spinach and saute till the spinach starts to wilt (2-3 minutes)
11. Taste and add salt as required
12. Blend everything using a hand blender and you will get a lovely creamy thick green spinach sauce!
13. Add milk or cream if you want to loosen it up a bit
14. Add the cubed panner pieces and gently stir till the sauce covers all the panner and let it cook in the sauce for a few minutes. If you prefer you can first saute the panner in some oil or butter to give it some colour. I usually skip this and add the chopped panner directly to the spinach sauce.
15. Add dry mango powder and stir to ensure its well combined
16. Finally add kasturi methi and stir again and turn off the heat
17. Squeeze some fresh lemon and stir through
18. Garnish with some fresh cream!
19. Serve hot over rice (or have along with chappatis or any flatbread)

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