Cook your most Aromatic Palak Paneer Curry
This aromatic Palak Paneer Curry made into 5 Elements tastes absolutely amazing. Also, the dish is surprisingly quick and easy, and the ingredients are inexpensive and accessible all year round. Because Indian cuisine does not belong to my cooking tradition I always research the recipes to make sure I do them right. The same with Palak Paneer Curry, you can take a look at the original recipe (there are many variations though) to compare.
The preparation
Spinach – blend a packet (300g) of washed spinach leaves in a hand blender. Most recipes say the leaves should be blanched water before that. To be honest, when I skipped that I did not get any difference in flavour.
Tomatoes – ideally use your homemade tomato sauce when tomatoes are in season. However, if unavailable use tinned or jarred tomatoes. For the amounts below just a half of a tin will be enough. In summer, use one large tomato roughly chopped.
Paneer – chop 200g of paneer cheese into cubes and fry on a separate frying pan greased with some oil. Turn the cubes several times. When the cheese is golden brown turn the heat off.
The amounts serve 4.
To make the spinach sauce
Use a deep frying pan and add the following ingredients:
- Sweet – 2 tablespoons of rapeseed or other mild tasting) oil, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds,
- Pungent – 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, fry the seeds util the aromas are released, and continue with 1/2 inch (1,5 centimetre) of ginger root finely chopped, 1 onion finely chopped, a pinch of cayenne, a pinch of coriander, a pinch of garam masala, a pinch of fenugreek leaves,
- Salty – 1 teaspoon of sea salt,
- Sour – 1/2 can of tomatoes, blended packet (300g) of spinach, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice,
- Bitter – a pinch of turmeric, 1/4 cup of boiling water.
Stir all the ingredients, cover with a lid and let it simmer for 3-4 minutes. Add fried cheese it to the sauce with a splash of oil. Check the flavour. If you feel that there is not enough of one or more flavours, go over the cycle one more time adding a little bit of each.
To serve add some cream on top (optional). Aromatic Palak Paneer Curry goes with naan or flatbreads and some sliced onion and a few drops of lemon juice on top. Also, try it with mango lassi as a drink to follow.
