I must attribute this recipe to KB. A few years back she found this wonderful Palak Aloo Matar recipe. We were students then; and a hot tasty meal would really revive our spirits in the job hunting phase of our life. While she claims that she does not make it anymore, I have adapted the recipe to make palak paneer and it works wonderfully well. I have tried and tested on quite a few people, including my mother-in-law and everyone has loved it.
Ingredients:
- One bag frozen spinach/Two fresh bundles of spinach/One big salad pack of Baby Spinach
- Medium Sized Tomato (1)
- Green Chillies (4 – 5 small)
- Garlic (2 medium sized cloves)
- Onion (1/2)
- Jeera powder (1 tsps)
- Coriander powder (1 tsps)
- Garam Masala (1/2 tsps)
- Paneer (cube-able)
- Oil (2 tsps)
- Jeera (1/2 tsps)
Method:
1. Cut the paneer into bite sized cubes and set aside (I usually like to cut them the way they serve in restaurants – a little bit longer in length)
2. Heat one to one and a half cup of water in a vessel, along with the spinach. Keep the vessel covered. Allow the spinach to wilt and cook.
3. Cool the spinach and grind along with tomato, chillies and one clove of garlic
4. Now heat oil, add jeera for tempering and garlic. Heat till the flavor of the garlic effuses in the oil and before it turns brown. Now add onions. Saute till the onions are translucent, but not shrunken in size.
5. Add the spinach mixture to the vessel.
6. Add the Jeera Powder, Coriander powder, Garam Masala and Salt to taste
7. Add the paneer cubes, lower the heat and keep on the stove for 2 minutes
Wonderful palak paneer is ready to be eaten with hot parathas!
The original recipe calls for adding pre-boiled green peas and potatoes (for the Matar and Aloo part). Don’t have paneer in the refridgerator? Add the peas and the potatoes over the sauted onions, prior to adding the spinach mixture. Tastes equally delicious!
Well known benefits of spinach:
* contains Iron – beneficial for building energy
* promotes Gastro Intestinal health
We used to eat a lot of spinach prior to the E-coli scare. It took us a long time to trust spinach again. Note to self: Need to get back to eating it twice a week again.
