Palak (Spinach) Paneer
January 5th, 2007 filed under Paneer (Indian Cheese)Palak Paneer is a Punjab dish and is very popular with youngsters. The creamy texture of spinach with paneer is a very good combination.
Serves 4.
Ingredients:
- 1 10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach or 4 cups of fresh finally chopped spinach
- 1/3 lb paneer
- 2 medium tomatoes, pureed
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
- Pinch of hing or asafetida
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 tablespoons of whole wheat flour
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tomato thinly sliced to garnish
- 1/4 cup water
Method
If using frozen spinach thaw and blend it just for a minute so spinach has a creamy texture but without becoming pasty.
Mix ginger, coriander powder, turmeric, and red chili powder with tomato puree and put aside.
Mix whole-wheat flour with heavy cream and put aside.
Cube the paneer in about half inch pieces and deep fry them on medium high heat just for few minutes so paneer become very light gold in color, take paneer out on paper towel so extra oil can be absorbed.
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away it is ready. When oil is hot add hing and cumin seed. After cumin seeds crack, add the tomato puree mixture, and let it cook for a few minutes until you see tomato puree has started leaving the oil. Now add the spinach, and let it cook on low medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add heavy cream mixture and let this cook another four to five minutes.
Add paneer and fold it gently with spinach and let it simmer for a few minutes. Pot should remain covered until the cooking is finished, otherwise the spinach will splatter. Transfer the spinach to a serving dish and spread the tomato slices over the top, then cover the dish so tomato slices get tender with the steam from the spinach.
Suggestion
You can replace the heavy cream with 1 1/2 cups of milk.
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August 22nd, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I’m a pretty proficient cook, you might call me an amateur gourmet (paradoxical, I know) but I have never made palak paneer before. I followed Manjula’s recipe for the most part and it turned out great. I added a little bit of pureed garlic, and toasted ground cumin.Instead of blending the palak beforehand, I added the frozen spinach to the fried tomato mixture and added a little bit of water. Once it cooked down I blended it with a handheld immersion blender dirctly in the pot. I also used half and half instead of heavy cream and added butter to make it creamier. I was very pleased with the results and will be trying some of her other recipes.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Hello:
“Mix ginger, coriander powder, turmeric, and red chili powder with tomato puree and put aside.”
In the video, you put the spices in the oil first and then added the tomato puree. Wouldn’t that be better so as to release the flavor more from the spices? Or does it make no difference.
Thanks
August 7th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
Hi - I really love your website and the step by step video instructions. I love Indian food and you make indian cooking very easy to do for non-Indians like me.
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:37 am
Hi Manjulaben! I really appreciate your efforts in helping us. I love your website and it has been very helpful.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
Auntie,
I finally got it right…I could not palak paneer to come out right, but this was great. Thanks!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Hi Sonika,
This is one of those dishes that garam masala would taste good in. If you have a preference for garam masala (like I do), just add it in at the end just before the cream.
Jaya
July 29th, 2008 at 3:57 am
why u do not add garam masala like lavang,elachi,
July 13th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Hi Erum, stir frying the paneer will be fine no difference in taste.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Hi Majula Ji!
will it make any difference in the taste if I stir fry paneer?
July 10th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Hi Yasmin,
Manjula shows how to make paneer at home. See her video under the Category “Paneer” titled “how to make paneer”. It’s easy to make.
Since you are in Malaysia, see if you can find an Indian grocery store you should be able to buy blocks of packaged paneer in the refridgerated section. This is an option if you don’t want to make it yourself.
Hope this helps you.
July 10th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Hi Manjula
I love ur videos!
Nway, for this palak paneer recipe..I live in Malaysia..and i do not know where to get this paneer from..Do help..I so want to try out your recipe soon!
June 17th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
[...] I went to Manjula’s Kitchen for the rest of the recipe. I modified her version somewhat based on what happened to be in my [...]
June 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Hello Lucy, you need to squeeze more water out of paneer so it is firm. Paneer can not melt but it will break if it is wet.
June 5th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Hello Manjula, I have just discovered your videos and website… wonderful! Thankyou for doing it!
I have a question about frying the paneer. I make my own, and when I fry it, it melts in the hot oil… is there anything I can do about this, or is it just my paneer is different to store bought?!
Thanks again, Lucy.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Hello Sue, it is a good idea to make more for later use and every thing you say you did sounds fine if I am using fresh spinach after washing take out the water and I will chop them using food processor that gives little creamy texture. Fresh spinach comes out better then frozen, usually people make mistake adding too much or too little salt. Sorry I have not been a big help just can not figure out where you wnt wrong.
May 17th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
OK so I attempted to make the dish
And I did horrible
The paneer I did perfect just like in the video
where I went wrong was because I was trying to use 3 bags of fresh spiniach
i over estimated my tomatoe usage
and put a whole can of crushed tomatoes in
and i used maybe 6 tbl spoons of floor and one large cup of milk
i think i did ok guessing the other amounts
but What would you say are the more acurate amounts of measurement on a larger scale cooking attempt
for example four pounds of fresh spinach
the reason why i made so much is i work all week no time to cook
also should i take the dish and try and rinse some of the tomatoe out of the sauce with water
May 17th, 2008 at 4:55 am
Hi Manjula!
My name is Sue and I live in London Ontario Canada
And about a month ago I discovered your You Tube videos and I swear by them and refuse to watch anyone eles!
=)
Today Saturday May 17th(sisters b-day) I’m going to make my first palak paneer dish ever.
I love your advice on buying the pre made paneer and I was able to find some at the Indo-Asian Grocers near my home.
I can’t wait to get started and I absolutely love your website, it looks fabulous!
Best,
Sue
May 6th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Mrs. Jain: Do you have a brand of store-bought paneer you prefer? Also, do you make your own paneer very often? Just curious. I enjoy making it, but mine always seems to spatter more than the store-bought kind when frying…
May 1st, 2008 at 6:08 am
Hi Manjula Ji,
I love palak paneer and after watching u r video i felt i too can prepare. I tried today and it is so tasty. Thank u so much for u r receipee.
April 6th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Hi! I just found your site while looking for a palak paneer recipe with which to use up my paneer.
My paneer had unfortunately already gone bad, so I ended up substituting with pressed tofu. It didn’t fry as well as paneer, and the taste wasn’t quite as good, but I actually prefered the texture. I also used coconut milk instead of heavy cream, making it entirely vegan. The spices were heavy enough to mask any coconut flavor.
I didn’t have any tumeric, and I used canned, chopped tomatoes, and didn’t bother pureeing them, but those were the only other deviations from your recipe.
I think I oversalted it a little, but it still tasted fantastic (and we had plenty of basmati rice with which to mix it). My father and I ate it with some fried gota, and we plan on making it again.
Thanks for the recipe; I’m definitely planning on looking at some of your other ones!
April 6th, 2008 at 4:09 am
That’s cool! I tried to cook it for a first time and it went delicious. Thanks a lot for your website :).
March 30th, 2008 at 6:34 am
sorry for the changes but eather way will be fine, fresh spinach will be great just puree before adding to the oil.
March 30th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Hi, I love your recipes! Thank you! I have 2 questions about your palak paneer recipe.
1. I want to use the fresh spinach leaves from my garden instead of the frozen store-bought package. With fresh spinach, do I need to cook or puree it before I add to the oil, spices, tomato puree mixture?
2. I think there are some small differences between the YouTube video and the written recipe. I think in the video you did not use any coriander, you used more ginger (1 TBL instead of 1 tsp), you put in red chiles (but not in written recipe), and you did the flour differently (use whole wheat flour and combine it with cream; in video you just combined flour with water).
So I was just wondering if these things make any difference to how it turns out.
Thanks again!
March 24th, 2008 at 9:50 am
with spinach you can use any cream or replace with just milk just put double.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:12 am
hi manjula ji
i love your recipes. would you like to tell me which cream is the best in market.can we make cream at home. or is there any substitute of cream in palak paneer.
thanx
March 24th, 2008 at 12:32 am
you are the chef in your kitchen so I will say why not try it. Many people do use aloo instead of paneer but cauliflower will be great.
March 23rd, 2008 at 11:12 pm
Manjula Aunty,
I tried your recipe - Palak Paneer. It came good.
Panner will add weight to our body - so I am thinking instead of Paneer if we can replace it with Cauliflower or Aloo. Your suggestions please ?
And, Thanks for your recipe.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:56 am
hi manjula,
i just want to try palak paneer. one que. can i put besan instead of atta. and which cream is best in market.
thanx
March 19th, 2008 at 10:45 am
I will be posting method infew days
March 19th, 2008 at 9:36 am
I did not get the full samosa recipe. only ingredients no method Thanks
March 18th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
you can use the food processor but dont make a paste.
March 17th, 2008 at 7:15 am
Munjula Aunty,
Enjoyed watching this recipe…had a query…did u grind spinach?pls let me know wt we need to do with spinach?