Wednesday

Food ambassadors - Lo- cal Palak Paneer

If ever a cuisine had brand ambassadors, internationally Indian cuisine would be represented by palak paneer to vegeterians and by tandoori chicken to non-vegeterians (with chicken tikka masala coming in a close second)! Ubiquitous in all Indian restaurants, they are essentially the dishes of the North. In our home spinach was generally used in a dal; it is only when we moved next door to a family from Punjab that dishes such as palak paneer and gobi parathas began making an appearance on our table.

I like the dish well enough but the heavy cream or cashew base used in most recipes is not friendly on the waist. I came across this recipe in one of Tarla Dalal's books. When I tried it for the first time I quite liked the end result, there was very little use of oil, no use of cream yet the dish was delicious. Since then it has become a standard weekday dinner in my home, because it also takes very little time to cook. This time I added some corn that I had lying around in my freezer too.

palak2

(spinach with cottage cheese and corn)
LO-CAL PALAK PANEER
4 cups baby spinach, washed and chopped (baby spinach works better in this dish)
1/2 cup paneer cut into cubes (preferably made from skim milk)
1/2 cup onion chopped
a handful of corn (optional)
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 green chillies chopped
1 tsp coriander powder
1/ 4 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2-3 tsp oil
salt

Place chopped spinach in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 4 minutes or until spinach changes color.
OR
Drop spinach in hot water until it wilts.

Pulse it lightly in a blender. Don't make a very smooth paste. Keep aside.
Heat about two teaspoons of oil. Add onion and saute until it turns translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste and chillies and saute till onion becomes limp. Add spinach puree, coriander, turmeric and garam masala powders. Stir well.
Season and remove from heat.
Add paneer cubes and corn. Serve hot.

My tip - If you want a creamier taste without the cream, crush a couple of paneer cubes and add to the gravy.

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2 Comments:

Blogger fatmanyash said...

i make mine lil differently though..just blend the palak or chop coarsely.then saute onions in oil add garlic red chillies and tomato wedges, add the palak and stir fry,the add kasoori methi, and some cream....simmer for a bit and add the paneer. now for the paneer , i marinate with some ginger and garlic paste, turmeric, and chilli pdrs,and some oil and roast in very hot oven for abt 3-5 mins till its gets browned.then add and aalso add abit of freshly made garam masala ...love my own recipe ..its.. on http://fatmanyash.com
and loads of choped dhania and we are good to go..

11:12 PM  
Blogger Advaitin said...

amazing recipe...will for sure try it

10:09 AM  

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