Tempting green spinach curry with spongy cottage cheese
This is classic Indian dish requires several steps, but is worth the effort. Serve with roti or naan for a weekend brunch or leisurely weekend dinner. You can make paneer at home, or use frozen paneer from your local Indian store.
Or make it vegan with tofu cubes and coconut cream instead of paneer and dairy-based cream.
Ingredients
- 8 oz paneer, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon oil, around 15 ml
- 12 oz grams spinach
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 finely chopped large onion
- 1 medium tomato
- 1-inch ginger
- 5 garlic cloves, 2 finely chopped and 3 whole
- 1 green chili, add more according to your taste
- Salt to taste
- Lemon juice to taste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ one teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ tablespoon dried and crushed kasuri methi
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ cup water
Method
- Use a strainer, rinse the spinach/palak leaves under running water.
- Take a pan, add water to it. Boil the water for a few minutes.
- Add a little salt and stir it.
- Now add spinach leaves to hot water and blanch the leaves for around 3 minutes or until wilted.
- Take another bowl, add ice cubes and cold water.
- Stain the leaves and immediately transfer them to the bowl with the cold water. Let it stay for a minute. Doing this will let leaves retain their color.
- Drain the water and press the leaves to remove excess moisture.
- Take a blender and add the blanched leaves with green chili, ginger, 3 cloves of garlic and tomato.
- Blend it for about 10 seconds. Scrape down the sides and blend again. Set aside once the puree is ready.
- Take a pan and heat it. Make sure to heat it on a medium flame. Add oil and after a minute add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. Let them splutter.
- Now add the remaining cloves of chopped garlic. Sauté till it changes the color.
- Add onions (chopped) to the pan and cook until it turns a little golden.
- Now add the puree to this bowl and mix it well. Then add ½ cup water to it. Stir again.
- Cover the pan and cook it on medium flame.
- After 10 minutes, the gravy will bubble. Stir regularly at intervals to avoid sticking at the bottom.
- Now add turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and red chili powder. Add salt as per your taste.
- Mix the ingredients well and cook for a minute.
- Add the cream and mix.
- Now add the paneer cubes directly to the gravy and mix them.
- Keep the curry at low flame for 4 minutes.
- Turn off the flame. Add lemon juice, kasuri methi and mix them.
- Serve it in a bowl with chapati or rice.
