Palak Paneer is a very popular dish from northern parts of india like punjab and delhi which consists of cooked spinach and paneer. Palak paneer is made differently in different homes. Some use a smooth puree and some make a chunkier version also using tomatoes.
In restaurants the best versions are had when the palak paneer is made a la minute upon ordering. We have blogged about one of our favorite versions at Deccan Rendezvous in Pune who as an example do a really good job. However in USA many times frozen or canned spinach is used or the dish is cooked ahead of time for buffets. We believe this does not do justice to the true flavors of palak paneer.
Our Palak Paneer
As mentioned above palak paneer can be chunky with chopped spinach or be made from a smooth spinach puree. Here we opt for silky smooth puree of spinach. We also do not use tomatoes or cream or cashew puree in our dish. We believe both the cream and cashew puree overpower the flavors of spinach. However instead we lay an emphasis on extracting the best flavor out of spinach and to combine with some earthy and some sour or acidic ingredients to balance the flavors. Below you can find a picture of the most simple ingredients used in our Palak Paneer.We also see lot of Palak paneers have the palak overcooked or really dark greenish black in color. We love to have a vibrantly green palak paneer.
It is thus important to cook the spinach properly. Here are some tips for getting the best out of your spinach here
- Use only good quality spinach. You can use baby spinach in whole or spinach with the stems cut off
- Use baking soda in the boiling water. The green color of spinach comes from chlorophyll which has a magnesium molecule at its centre. The acids from spinach make the boiling water acidic and displace the magnesium molecule causing the chlorophyll to break down. The baking soda helps maintain the acidity of the cooking water low thus allowing the spinach to be greener
- When boiling the spinach you do not want to overcook it and want to cook it as quickly as possible. Overcooking will impart an undesirable metallic taste to spinach. For this reason first make sure water is boiling and also make sure you use a lot of water because when you add spinach its temperature will drop. Having more boiling water reduces this temperature drop.
- Be prepared to move the cooked spinach to iced water to stop further cooking
- When pureeing, add some really cold water, since even the churning blade will produce heat and cause the spinach to change color and taste
- Do not use the water from boiled spinach or the water from the ice bath. As mentioned spinach will release acids in the water. Part of these acids are oxalates which can be a factor in kidney stones.
- When you add the puree back to the pan, do not cook on high heat but on a slow warming heat. Further cooking can overcook the spinach and can bring out the metallic taste we referred to earlier.
We cook our palak paneer as we mentioned with very simple flavors. Hence its important to add cumin to hot ghee for creating the aromatics but then cooking the onions, garlic and green chili by sweating. We want the onions to be tender and buttery but not browned or overly caramelized. When we add the pureed spinach, you will notice the taste is rich, nutty and creamy. This needs to be balanced out by some acid at the very end of cooking. The sour taste will cut the richness from ghee and the creaminess from spinach. Here many people add garam masala or many ground spices. We feel this overpowers the taste of Spinach. So to give a hint of acid we add a little bit of anardana powder or black salt. You can very well use some chaat masala or amchur powder. We can also add some fresh lime juice. Trick here is that there is no recipe, you add a bit and taste for balance.
As with spinach in our palak paneer the other ingredient that makes a difference is the paneer. Make your own or buy paneer that has not seen a freezer. Just like any good cheese paneer should not be frozen. Many people like to fry or saute the paneer however we love to add it the way it is and just warm up so that its proteins relax and reward you with a product soft in texture and oozing flavors of dairy freshness the way a good cheese should.
We made a small video of us cooking palak paneer for you to enjoy.
Serve our palak paneer with some warm Naan’s on the side. you can use our recipe for reheating frozen Naan’s.
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Palak Paneer
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: Serves 2 to 4 1x
Description
Our Palak Paneer does not use either cashew paste or cream but indeed focusses on simple vegetal flavor of spinach and earthy cumin seasoning
Ingredients
- 8 oz baby spinach leave or Spinach leaves without stems
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp Ghee or Butter
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 2 green chilies chopped fine
- 1 tsp cumin
- Ginger julienne of half inch piece of ginger
- salt to taste
- 1 to 2 tsp of one of the ingredients to taste (pomegranate seed powder/chaat masala/black salt/amchur powder/lime juice)
- 8 half inch cubes of paneer
Instructions
- Bring 1 Litre of water to boil on high heat till it comes to a rolling boil
- Set ice in a large bowl with some 2 cups water
- Once water is boiling add the baking soda to the water
- Then add spinach leaves and cook till the color turns to bright vibrant green
- Work quickly and remove spinach to cool in the ice water bowl
- Set a pan on medium heat and add ghee
- Once hot add cumin to crackle and get cumin scented ghee
- Add onion, garlic and green chili and sweat
- Add few teaspoons of water as required and stir and cover every now and then till onions are cooked and tender
- Strain the cooled spinach and puree only add little cold water at a time, just enough to get a pourable smooth puree
- Reduce heat of pan to medium low and add the puree and stir immediately mixing the onion garlic cooked mixture
- Work fast to season with salt and taste
- It will likely need some acid or sour taste to balance the nutty taste of cumin and ghee and the creamy taste of spinach. To brighten up the flavors add 1 tsp of one of the ingredients above and taste and adjust further accordingly
- Finish by adding paneer and cooking further only till paneer goes warm and soft in the pan
- Garnish with half the julienne and mix
- Plate and grate some paneer on top and garnish with remaining ginger julienne
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Category: Entree
- Cuisine: Indian
