Palak Paneer is a vegetarian dish that originated from North India. It is a combination of spinach, also known as palak, and paneer, which is a type of Indian cottage cheese. The dish is prepared by cooking chopped spinach with spices and then blending it into a smooth sauce. The sauce is then combined with pan-fried paneer cubes to create a rich and creamy dish that is packed with flavor and nutrition.
Assemble all ingredients together to avoid last minute rush.
Cut cottage cheese / paneer into small cubes.
In case if you are choosing frozen palak, then keep it on kitchen counter for 30 minutes for defrosting.
Incase if you are choosing fresh palak, then wash them thoroughly with running water.
Wash and finely chop tomato and ginger.
Cooking
To a pot of boiling water, add little salt and then spinach leaves to it. Blanch the spinach leaves for 2 to 3 minutes until wilted.
Take them out and put them in ice cold water. This helps the leaves in retaining their green color.
Take a Blender and make a smooth puree with blanched spinach and green chillies. Set aside.
Heat a Cook Pot on medium heat. Then, add oil and chopped ginger and tomato. Also add salt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder. Sauté for few minutes until it starts releasing oil.
Add in the prepared spinach puree and mix. For frozen spinach, at this point add it in the Cook Pot. Also add around 1/2 cup water.
Cover the Cook Pot and let it cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. The spinach will splutter a lot. Stir at regular intervals to avoid sticking at the bottom.
Once the spinach is cooked, add the garam masala.
Mix and cook for 1 minute.
Then add cream and mix.
Stir in the paneer and mix. Let the curry simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
Your Palak Paneer is ready to Serve.
You can serve it with roti / naan or steamed / jeera rice.
For bitter Spinach: If the spinach is bitter, you can use ½ tsp sugar to balance the taste.
Cheese: You can pan-fry the paneer cubes (until golden brown) before adding them to the curry. I prefer cottage cheese as it is in my recipe.
For Vegan: You can swap cottage cheese with tofu.
Cream: This step is optional. However, cream gives richness to your Palak Paneer Recipe.
Adding Onion & Garlic: If you want to add onions & garlic, take 1 onion and 2 cloves garlic. Finely chop them and add when you are adding ginger and tomato to the Cook Pot.
Spiciness: To get the bright orangish-red color, it is best to use Kashmiri red chilli powder or deghi mirch.
Oil: You can use any neutral tasting oil. Some options are sunflower oil, canola oil or olive oil.
Tomatoes: You can use readymade tomato puree also in case you are out of tomatoes or not available at your place.
Ingredients & Equipment: Find these Ingredients & Equipment at Indian specialty food stores / Grocery Stores or Online Stores. For review of some stores, please refer to the Grocery Review Section on our Website.
Nutrition Information (Note: Approximate)
Nutrition Facts
Palak Paneer Recipe
Amount per Serving
Calories
197
% Daily Value*
Fat
16
g
25
%
Saturated Fat
8
g
50
%
Trans Fat
0.01
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
1
g
Monounsaturated Fat
3
g
Cholesterol
33
mg
11
%
Sodium
1022
mg
44
%
Potassium
513
mg
15
%
Carbohydrates
7
g
2
%
Fiber
3
g
13
%
Sugar
2
g
2
%
Protein
8
g
16
%
Vitamin A
7436
IU
149
%
Vitamin B1
0.1
mg
7
%
Vitamin B2
0.2
mg
12
%
Vitamin B3
1
mg
5
%
Vitamin B5
0.1
mg
1
%
Vitamin B6
0.2
mg
10
%
Vitamin B12
0.01
µg
0
%
Vitamin C
28
mg
34
%
Vitamin D
0.1
µg
1
%
Vitamin E
2
mg
13
%
Vitamin K
368
µg
350
%
Calcium
265
mg
27
%
Iron
2
mg
11
%
Magnesium
65
mg
16
%
Zinc
0.5
mg
3
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.