• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Revi's Foodography logo
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Author
  • Privacy Policy
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • Author
  • Privacy Policy
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • Recipe Index
    • Author
    • Privacy Policy
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Palak Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy)

    Mar 17, 2015 · 10 Comments

    My 103rd post, “Easy Palak Paneer Recipe | Indian Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy”, a bright, vibrant and healthy North Indian side . An easy Indian Curry made with Paneer Cheese which is a kind of Indian Cheese.

    Happy St. Patrick’s Day !!! Green is the theme color for today and green it is. Palak Paneer is one of those dishes which I never tasted while growing up. My mom was very conscious in making me eat my leafy greens for the health benefits But it was usually the Spinach Dal she made atleast once a week.

    palak paneer

    Palak Paneer Recipe

    Since this dish is very healthy, I was assuming that it would not taste good. During my restaurant visits in Chennai also I never ordered this. And even during my very few visits to North India I had tried my favorite Paneer Butter Masala, but not this one. However once I moved to US, I was lucky enough to taste this wonderful dish. It was as part of a Lunch Buffet in my favorite Indian restaurant. I was amazed at how delicious it tasted. The taste kept lingering in my mouth for a while.

    Ever since that day, I wanted to try this dish at home. I made Aloo Palak once earlier. But I never attempted to make this healthy palak paneer until today. RK was saying that today was St. Patrick’s day and wanted me to prepare any dish green in color. I immediately grabbed the opportunity. Made this super healthy and famous Indian gravy. While this recipe can be made in a lot of different ways, this is more of a restaurant style palak paneer recipe. Even though this was my first time trying, it turned out super delicious. Better than what is served in Indian restaurants and one the best palak paneer I ever tasted.

    palak paneer

    Palak Paneer

    Revathi Palani
    Palak Paneer is a a bright, vibrant and healthy North Indian side made with pureed spinach and paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese)
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 15 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Side Dish
    Cuisine Indian
    Servings 4

    Ingredients
      

    • 7 Oz Paneer (½ Packet)
    • 5 oz Palak / Fresh Spinach leaves (½ Packet)
    • 2 small Green chilli
    • ½ inch Ginger (Roughly chopped)
    • 3 Cloves Garlic
    • 1 Tbsp Ghee / Oil
    • ½ tsp Jeera | Cumin seeds
    • 1 small Onion (Finely chopped)
    • 1 small Ripe tomato (Finely chopped)
    • ½ tsp Salt (Adjust per taste)
    • ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
    • ¼ tsp Red chilli powder
    • ½ tsp Garam masala powder
    • 2 Tbsp Fresh cream | Heavy Cream (Optional)

    Instructions
     

    • If using store bought paneer, cut them into desired shape. The paneer has to be soaked in hot water for about 10 minutes. Water has to be drained from paneer and keep aside. In case of using homemade paneer you can skip this step. 
    • Spinach has to be washed in in running water. Then blanch the spinach and keep it aside. i.e. Bring about a cup water or more to gentle boil, add the spinach to boiling water and let it sit for 2 minutes. Then remove the spinach from hot water and add it immediately to ice cold water. Let it sit in ice cold water for 1 minute before being used. This will help to retain its color.  
    • The blanched spinach to be added to the mixie or food processor. Add the ginger, garlic and green chili. Grind into smooth spinach puree without adding any water. Keep it aside.
    • Ghee has to be heated in a pan in medium heat. Add the jeera and once it starts changing color, add the onion. Saute until the onion turns nice golden brown. 
    • Add the fresh tomatoes, salt and saute until the tomato turns fully mushy. Add the turmeric, red chili powder and saute for few minutes. Until the raw smell of masala powders are gone. 
    • Now, add the prepared pureed spinach and stir well. Add about ¾ cup of water. Add garam masala powder and cook in low-medium flame until the spinach gets cooked fully. By the time you can find the raw smell would have gone and the gravy would thicken slightly.  
    • Finally, add the cubed paneer to the gravy and mix well. Let it get cooked in gravy for 2 mins. Turn off the flame. 
    • Optionally, add fresh cream and mix well.  
    • Transfer to serving bowl. Serve hot along with any kind of Indian Bread like naan bread. Or serve with plain basmati rice or jeera rice. Enjoy. 

    Notes | FAQ

    - You can even fry the paneer until slightly golden brown and use in gravy. But if you add it as given in the recipe, you will get super soft paneer and the masala will get nicely absorbed by the paneer.
    - Chop your tomato and onion very finely. It is highly important to follow to get a smooth gravy.
    - If you like, you can add a Tbsp of finely chopped garlic along with onion while sauteing.
    - Do adjust the green chilli according to your personal preference.
    - Do adjust the water according to your desired gravy consistency. I had to add a little extra water at the end to get a thin gravy.
    - Baby Spinach can be substituted instead of regular leaves
    - Instead of adding ginger and garlic while grinding, you can directly use ginger-garlic paste also
    « Chana Pulav
    Karamani Kuzhambu | South Indian Black-eyed Bean Gravy »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Pooja says

      August 28, 2017 at 5:29 am

      Aren't we supposed to pressure cook spinach leaves before blanxhing/sautéing?

      Reply
      • revifood says

        August 28, 2017 at 6:04 am

        No Pooja, blanching is good enough. Spinach does take a very long time to cook.

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Sri Rama Jayam !!!

    Newsletter

    Receive new recipe updates on email :

    Footer

    ↑ back to top