Palak Paneer

The sheer diversity of Indian cuisine never ceases to amaze me. Each of the 20-plus regions has its own cuisine, usually built around the local produce, available fish and meat. And within each region, there are variations based on family traditions, creating a rich, unending collection of recipes.

So that’s why it’s sometimes weird to me that Indian food in America is synonymous with certain dishes. Tandoori chicken. Chicken tikka. Chana masala. Naan. All of these items, which are mostly North Indian dishes, are typical on Indian menus, despite the dozens (if not hundreds) of chicken dishes throughout the subcontinent. It’s not surprising, since tandoori chicken and chicken tikka and chana masala are so.friggin.good. But sometimes a little variation would be nice, especially since there are so many options.

I’m not exactly helping the cause here, with this recipe for palak paneer (also often called saag paneer). My mom uses spinach in countless other dishes, including a spinach dal that she refuses to give me the recipe for (she pretends she doesn’t know; I may stop talking to her if I don’t get it soon) and a five-vegetable saute that often includes spinach, potatoes, eggplant, etc. They’re more authentically Bengali than palak paneer, a traditionally Punjabi dish that often appears on Indian restaurant menus as a token vegetarian dish. But it’s always on the menu because it’s delicious and while home on my magical week of vacay, I decided I had to have it.*

Palak paneer is a curry of spicy creamed spinach studded with cubes of fried farmer’s cheese. We buy our paneer in blocks from the Indian store, but if you can’t find it, it’s relatively easy to make, or you could always substitute ricotta (drain the ricotta using cheesecloth so that it’s very thick prior to using) or even drained extra-firm tofu.

Whatever you use paneer-wise, the star of this show is the bright, spicy, creamy spinach curry. The tangy yogurt-sour cream combo cuts through some of the sauce’s richness, and contrasts nicely with the slight sweetness of the soft-crisp cubes of cheese. While you may be opposed to turning your stove on in this interminable heat, it’s worth it for a dinner that is filling but not heavy, and needs only pieces of toasted naan to complete it. After making it myself, I suppose I get why every Indian restaurant in the country wants it on their menu …

*I don’t usually order Indian from Seamless since my mom packs me Tupperwares of my favorite dishes and freezes them as homemade “TV dinners” for those nights when I don’t want to cook. (Yes, I know how lucky I am. And yes I have a Tupperware of palak paneer in my freezer.) But every now and then, I crave restaurant-style Indian food — a girl’s gotta have her butter chicken!

Palak Paneer

We used whole-milk Indian-style dahi, which is a bit thicker than regular supermarket yogurt. If you use that, drain it a bit so that it’s not so thin. Alternately, you could use Greek yogurt.

– 1 14-ounce package paneer, cut into 1-inch cubes

– 1-1/4 teaspoons turmeric, divided

– 1-1/4 teaspoons salt, divided (add more, to taste)

– 2/3 cup canola oil

– 1 large onion, diced

– 1 bay leaf

– 1/2 teaspoon sugar

– 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

– 4 inches fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped*

– 1/2 tomato, quartered

– 6 tablespoons + 1/2 cup water, divided

– 8 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

– 1/2 cup sour cream

– 1/2 cup plain yogurt (see above)

– 1 teaspoon chili powder

– 1 teaspoon cumin

– 1 teaspoon coriander

– salt, to taste

*The ginger is a bit strong in this recipe — we love the taste of ginger so we didn’t mind, but if you’re ginger-averse, you may want to start with 2 or 3 inches of fresh ginger, and add a bit more to taste.

1) In a medium bowl, toss the paneer cubes with the turmeric and salt until they’re evenly coated. Heat the oil in a large wok or round-bottomed pot until shimmering. Working in batches, fry the paneer cubes until very lightly browned (but still very soft) — the oil should be very hot, and the paneer should be in the oil for only 2-3 minutes. Cool on paper towels and set aside.

2) Remove 1/3 cup of oil from the wok. Fry two-thirds of the onion along with the bay leaf and sugar on medium-low heat until the onions have caramelized, stirring occasionally (this will take 15-20 minutes).

3) Blend the remaining one-third of the onion with the garlic, ginger, tomato and 3 tablespoons of the water until it is completely pureed. Set aside. Rinse out the blender, then add the spinach, sour cream, yogurt and another 3 tablespoons of water. Puree and set aside.

4) Add the tomato-ginger-garlic puree to the caramelized onions. Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon turmeric, chili powder, cumin, coriander and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Saute until the oil rises to the top, about 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5) Add the spinach puree. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 30-35 minutes, until the spinach is cooked and the oil rises to the top.

6) Once the spinach sauce is cooked, add the remaining 1/2 cup water and the fried paneer cubes. Simmer on low for 5-7 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the oil rises to the top. Serve with rice or naan.