Palak Paneer

Before You Start

Soaking fried paneer in warm salted water is the restaurant trick that keeps it pillowy.

Use mature spinach rather than baby leaf; it has more flavour and less water.

For a vegan version, swap paneer for firm tofu and the cream for cashew cream.

Cooking Palak Paneer

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1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in the spinach and green chillies, cook for exactly 60 seconds, then lift straight into a bowl of iced water.

   Mark done

2. Drain, squeeze gently and blend the spinach and chillies to a coarse purée with 3 tablespoons of cold water. Set aside.

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3. Pat the paneer dry. Fry the cubes in 1 tablespoon of ghee over medium-high heat for 2 minutes a side until golden, then transfer to a bowl of warm salted water — this keeps them soft rather than squeaky.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

4. In the same pan, heat the remaining ghee and pop the cumin seeds for 20 seconds.

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5. Add the onion and fry for 8 to 10 minutes until golden, then the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes.

   Mark done Start 8 min timer

6. Add the tomatoes, ground coriander, turmeric and salt, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes until the tomatoes collapse and the oil separates.

   Mark done Start 6 min timer

7. Lower the heat and stir in the spinach purée. Cook for only 4 to 5 minutes — long cooking here is what dulls the colour.

   Mark done Start 4 min timer

8. Stir in the cream, garam masala, lemon juice and the kasuri methi crushed between your palms.

   Mark done

9. Drain the paneer and fold it in. Warm through for 2 minutes and serve.

   Mark done Start 2 min timer

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What's Going On Here

Spinach turns olive-drab when heat degrades its chlorophyll in the presence of its own acids. Blanching for 60 seconds and shocking in ice water deactivates the enzymes and locks in colour, and adding the purée only at the end limits its exposure to further heat.

Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping

Refrigerate 3 days. Freezing dulls both colour and texture, so make it fresh. Reheat gently without boiling.

If You're Missing Something

• In a sauce, full-fat crème fraîche can usually take the place of the double cream; single cream is thinner and more likely to split if it boils, so keep it below a simmer.
• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.

Serving Palak Paneer

• A dry Riesling or a mango lassi
• Serve with garlic naan or jeera rice
• Follow with kheer

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Gluten-Free Naan, Idiyappam, Kerala Appam.

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (most of the energy comes from foods with no recorded source). Why some recipes have none.

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