PALAK PANEER
Ingredients
| Ingrediens | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Spinach Puree | 250 grams spinach or 8.81 oz 3 cups hot boiling water for blanching 2 cups water for ice bath 8 to 10 ice cubes |
| Pan Frying Paneer | 250 grams paneer or 8.81 oz 3 tablespoons oil |
| teaspoon cumin seeds | ½ |
| small tej patta or 1 medium to large tej patta (Indian bay leaf) | 2 |
| chopped onions | 60 to 70 grams |
| teaspoon finely chopped green chilies – swap ½ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne with green chilies) | ½ |
How it is made
Blanch and Purée Spinach
Using a colander or strainer, rinse the palak (spinach) leaves (250 grams or 0.55 pounds), very well under running water.
Boil 3 cups water in a pan, microwave or electric heater. Add ¼ teaspoon salt to the hot water and stir.
Then add the spinach leaves to the hot water. Let the spinach leaves sit in the water for about 1 minute.
If doing this on a stove-top, be sure to remove the pan from the hot burner.
While the water is coming to a boil, make a bowl of ice water and set it aside. Just add 8 to 10 ice cubes to 3 cups of water to get cold water.
After 1 minute, strain the spinach leaves.
Immediately transfer the palak (spinach) leaves to the bowl containing ice cold water. This method of “shocking” the spinach helps preserve the vibrant green color of the spinach.
Allow the spinach leaves to stay in the cold water for a minute to stop the cooking process.
Drain the ice cold water and press the spinach to remove any excess moisture. Add the spinach in a blender or grinder jar with 1 inch chopped ginger, 1 to 2 garlic cloves and 1 to 2 chili peppers (green chillies).
Make a smooth spinach purée by blitzing the ingredients together. There should be no need to add any water to make the purée. Set the spinach purée aside.
Make Spinach Gravy
7. Heat 2 tablespoons oil, ghee or butter in a pan or kadai (wok). In the photos below I used butter. If using butter, melt it on a low heat making sure that it does not brown.
8. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds and let them splutter.
9. Then add one small to medium-sized tej patta (Indian bay leaf).
10. Add ⅓ cup finely chopped onions (1 small to medium sized onion)
11. Then add 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic. Sauté till the raw aroma of garlic goes away, but stop short of browning the garlic.
12. Add ⅓ cup chopped tomatoes (1 small or medium sized tomato).
13. Stir and sauté the tomatoes until they soften.
14. Once the tomatoes are softened and you see fat releasing from the sides of the mixture, then add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon red chili powder (or substitute cayenne pepper or paprika) and a pinch of asafoetida (hing).
https://www.desigravyy.com/recipes/palak-paneer
