For a recipe this special, I cant endorse shortcuts.
This version is made entirely from scratch including thepaneer cheese!
And … while were at it, welcome toIndian Weekhere at RecipeTin Eats!!
Palak Paneer
Welcome to Indian week!!
Palak Paneer is a recipe Ive been busting to nail for years now.
Im thrilled its finally ready to share with you.
So to celebrate, Ive decided to declare this week asIndian week!
Naan Finally, finally, finally!
FIVE YEARS in the making!
Palak Paneer
Samosas Oh yes we did … and its AMAZING!!!
Plusa colourful side salad aCabbage & Carrot Thoran-style Salad!
I hope you enjoy them!
Thoran-style Indiancabbage salad
This is one of the milder Indian curries out there, both in heat and spice intensity.
Meanwhile, the paneer are like little creamy sponges that suck up all those tasty flavours in the sauce!
This curry isanything but dullwhen done right.
HomemadeSamosas
Its unique among curries with its creamy green sauce.
Its full of nourishing goodness and is packed with layers of flavour.
And its completely vegetarian to boot.
Fluffiest, chewiest homemadenaan!
This is a curry that can honestly just just about everyone.
); and
Spinach Curry Sauce Made with fresh spinach.
LOTS of it!!!
Whilehomemade paneerdoes take a bit of time to make, its simple.
Its just milk and lemon, and you dont need any special equipment.
Most importantly,it is far superior to store-bought paneer.
Store-bought paneer is hard and dry and kind of spongey.
This is all you gotta make homemade Paneer: just milk and lemon juice or vinegar.
Ive posted the recipe forHow to Make Paneerseparately for ease of reading.
As well as better results, you will get an enormous sense of satisfaction from making your own cheese!
You need a LOT of spinach to make Spinach Curry.
Like seriously, A LOT.
As in five BIG bunches to yield 700g/1.4lb of leaves in total.
You will need to pick the leaves, wash and dry them, then chop them.
Im not going to lie I was over this job by the 5th (6th?
batch of palak paneer.
And I know, I know.
The first thing youre wondering is easier alternatives.
Bags of pre washed baby spinach?
I tried em all.
Its not the same, believe me more on this below!
Curdled milk for homemade paneer
Regretfully, the result was barely passable.
It also has very little spinach flavour.
We ended up looking at what appeared like a pot of green smoothie.
After draining
It was just sad and barely edible….
Frozen spinach This works, but you end up with about 1/3 of the final curry quantity!
It also has a diluting effect on flavours which you should probably account for.
Also, the sauce will be thicker and paler, and the spinach flavour is not quite as pronounced.
But its still very tasty you just wind up with a LOT less!!
How to make Palak Paneer
The steps below depict the steps for making the Palak Paneer.
See the process steps in the separatePaneer recipefor how to make the homemade cheese.
Paneer (homemade Indian fresh cheese) Firstly, make the Paneer.
We need one batch per thepaneer recipe here, which includes process steps and recipe video.
Fresh spinach for Palak Paneer. There is no substitute!
It calls for 4 hours of setting in the fridge, so you will need to factor this in.
A large pot is the best cooking vessel youll thank me when you get to the spinach part!
It will already be smelling amazing, now take it to another level!!
This essentially deglazes the pot (ie.
Youll need to add the spinach in 3 batches.
That is: Add, wilt.
And so on, until all the spinach is in.
The cream adds a touch of richness, but not too much.
I like to puree just half so as to retain some texture in the sauce.
You will find some recipes, and even some restaurants, puree the sauce completely.
I personally dont enjoy that texture its too much like a smoothie!
Colour = flavour, and paneer is no exception to this rule!
Note the sauce is deliberately quite thick, its not as loose as other curries likeButter Chicken.
But nor should it be so thick that its like a paste.
As a general note, in case you are wondering (because I was!
), Palak Paneer is more spinach curry and less paneer.
If you do want more cheese and I really dont blame you just scale up the Paneer recipe.
Its no more effort to make more!
Serve with …
Just to restate, itsIndian Weekhere on RecipeTin Eats!!
And on Friday, we haveSAMOSAS!!!
Im so thrilled about this one.
Prevent screen from sleeping
These little babies are completely irresistible!
Hell blame the camera.
Ill blame theCarrot Cake Cupcakes).
