Palak Paneer

There is no story behind why I started cooking this..except that I like it. But I remember what a huge mess my mom and I made when we tried it for the first time. When we put the spinach into the blender and switched it on, the lid flew off and the spinach was all over the kitchen :). Hope no such thing happens to those who try it. This dish is more of  my husband's expertise and he makes it a more elaborate process with more ingredients. The recipe that I gave here is lot simpler with lesser ingredients and the spinach flavor is more prominent in my version.

Ingredients

Palak (Spinach)- 500g

Paneer(Cottage cheese)- 400g

Onion - 1 small

Garlic - 4 big pods

Green chillies

Cumin seeds

Salt

 

Process

1. Cut off the stems of the spinach and wash the leaves.
2. Chop the onions, slit the green chillies and peel the skin of garlic pods
3. Put the spinach, onions, garlic and green chillies in a cooker. Add a cup of water, it does not require lot of water. Add a little salt as well. Cook for 2-3 whistles.
4. Meanwhile cut the paneer and pan fry them. I generally cut into bigger pieces for frying and then cut them into smaller pieces later on.

5. When the spinach cools, drain of the excess water. Remember not to throw the water as it has nutrients can be used in cooking instead of water :).Blend the spinach into smooth paste

6. In a deep pan add little oil and add the cumin seeds when oil is hot.
7. When the cumin seeds start to splutter, add the spinach paste. Remember to cover, because if the paste is too thick, the paste will splatter all over. Add a little bit of the water we saved earlier.

8. Now add more salt if needed and let it boil. Then add the paneer pieces to it and let it cook for 5 mins.

9. There its all done now... enjoy your meal :)