If E. C. Seager had to create an Indian version of Popeye then the Indian Popeye would have been eating Palak Paneer all the time. Though Indian kids also love Popeye like all the other children in the world, they don’t need him to encourage them to eat spinach. The reason is that they grow up eating Palak Paneer which is a very tasty spinach recipe from India. It’s also one of the favorite Indian recipes of a lot of my non-Indian friends. After tasting palak paneer for the first time, most of them said that they had never imagined that spinach could taste so good. Today I am sharing the way it’s traditionally cooked in North Indian homes. The home-cooked palak paneer tastes far better than the restaurant style.
It’s one of the most popular vegetarian recipes from North India. Though you can enjoy it throughout the year, it’s especially eaten during winter when it tastes even better.
Ingredient notes and substitute suggestions
Prepare spinach puree: Wash and blanch the spinach for 2-3 minutes in boiling salted water. Take it out from the boiling water and transfer to ice-cold water. This will help to avoid the spinach getting overcooked and will also help in retaining the bright green color of the leaves. After 1-2 minutes, drain the water and put blanched spinach and green chilies in a food processor to make a puree. Prepare masala: Heat oil in a pan. Break dried red chilies into 2-3 pieces and add to the pan. Saute for a few seconds and then add cumin seeds. Saute until they start spluttering.Next, add garlic and cook until its raw smell goes away. Add onion and cook until it turns brown. Add coriander powder, turmeric powder, and red chili powder. Saute for a few seconds. Powdered spices burn very easily, to avoid that either remove the pan from the flame before adding spices or mix the spices with around ½ a tablespoon of water before adding to the pan. The other two dried spice- powdered-garam masala and kasoori methi will be added at a later stage as we don’t want to overcook them. They will lose flavor and aroma if overcooked Next, add finely chopped tomatoes, ginger, and salt. Cover the pan and cook until the tomatoes turn mushy. Covering the pan will help in fastening the process. Mix masala and spinach puree: When the tomatoes are cooked, add spinach puree and mix. If the puree is too thick, add some water depending upon how thick you want the palak paneer to be. However, keep in mind that we will also be adding milk later which will also make it thinner. Cook the spinach puree with masala for around 2-3 minutes. Add kasoori methi, garam masala, paneer cubes, and milk. Mix everything and cook for 1-2 minutes and then switch off the gas. Don’t stop stirring for at least a minute after adding milk otherwise it may curdle. Switch off the stove, cover the pan, and let it stay like that for at least 5 minutes. It will help in blending all the flavors. Finally, pour some ghee/ butter on top. Enjoy!
Step by step photo instructions
Frequently asked questions
The most popular way of enjoying it is with an Indian flatbread like roti, naan, or paratha. You can also serve it with some plain steamed basmati rice, jeera rice, or any other rice dish like chickpea pulao, vegetable rice, cabbage rice, etc. Always serve it hot with a dollop of ghee or butter on top. However, if using frozen spinach, I will suggest tweaking a few steps. Instead of blanching the frozen spinach, thaw it and then saute with green chilies and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Puree the sauteed spinach and then follow the remaining steps given in the recipe card below. In many North Indian homes, spinach is blanched and pureed in bulk because that’s the step that takes most of the time. The spinach puree is then stored in the freezer in portion-size containers. To make instant palak paneer with frozen spinach puree, the base of onion, tomato, and spices is prepared fresh. The thawed frozen spinach puree is then added to this mixture. Once the spinach starts to simmer, garam masala, kasoori methi, milk, and paneer are added. You can also try this method to save time on weekday cooking. If you liked this recipe, please leave a star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in the recipe card below. You can also follow me on Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest.
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