This Coronavirus is driving me insane; namely due to cabin fever. So what I like to do best when I’m stuck indoors is to create new, delicious concoctions. My latest fascination has been tinkering with the plethora of Indian spices. As a general rule, Indian home cooks use far more spices and flavourings than do most Western cooks. No two curries will ever taste exactly the same. 
My favourite dish to make and devour is the palak paneer. This is particularly apt given my latest desire to become vegetarian (or pescetarian). This is, what I genuinely believe, to be the tastiest way to consume your greens. Throw in some minced garlic, ginger, diced tomatoes, onions and a concoction of indian herbs and ‘palak’ (spinach), and you will come out with a delicious green curry whereby you can simmer paneer cubes in.
Note that while most traditional palak paneer recipes call for cream, I like to be ‘nicer’ to my waistline so I have skipped the heavy cream and opted for cashews instead, which also lend the ‘creaminess factor’ to the curry.
Be forewarned that this sauce is delicious so you would be mopping up every last drop with your chopati, roti or naan.
Palak Paneer
PREP TIME: 10 min | COOK TIME: 15 min | TOTAL TIME: 25 min | YIELDS: 2 servings
INGREDIENTS:
- 200g spinach
- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon of minced ginger
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 green chilli, diced
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/8 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamon
- 8 cashews
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt, to taste
- Fresh coriander, to garnish
- 1 cup of water
METHOD:
- Rinse spinach under cold running water and chop the ends of the spinach (you don’t want the roots).
- Heat a saute pan on medium high heat and fill it up with some water. Once it boils, add the spinach to the pan and let it parboil for 1 minute till it wilts. Have an ice bath ready so that once the spinach has wilted, you quickly use your tongs to transfer the spinach to the ice bath to keep the color bright green.
- Empty the water from the pan and wipe dry. Heat the same pan on medium heat and gently toast the dry spices. Then add the chopped onions so that they sweat a little. Next add the green chill, tomatoes and cashews. Cook the mixture for 8-10 minutes until it breaks down and season generously with salt.
- Transfer the content to a high speed blender and blend on high speed until a smooth paste forms.
- In the meantime, heat a small pot on medium high heat and add a dollop of oil. Once oil is shimmering, add the paneer. You want to gently brown the paneer.
- In the same pot with the paneer, pour the content inside the blender and turn heat to low. Simmer gently for 8 minutes or so until the mixture gets hot. Garnish with coriander (if you wish). Transfer to a serving bowl and serve with chopati, roti or garlic naan.
