Learn how to make Palak Paneer: this my recipe that's perfected over the years by adding and subtracting ingredients to suit our palates. This version of Palak Paneer contains no cream.
Today, TH turns 31. I met him when he was 24. Both of us were younger, slimmer, naive, and he really wasn't TH back then, just this goofy funny guy who made me laugh all the time and ridiculed my Tamil. Most of that has changed now except one thing. TH's love for Palak Paneer. When he first told me how much he loves Garlic Nan with Palak Paneer, I was surprised because where I come from, most guys don't really like spinach. TH is neutral towards other spinach dishes but Palak Paneer, he adores. He has tried Palak Paneer in pretty much every city we have traveled to and is still on the quest to find the best Palak Paneer in Singapore.
Since we eat palak paneer so often when we go out for meals, I rarely make it at home. This one time I did make it, I used red amaranth leaves and way too much spices. Since then I've realised that Palak needs spices to make it less bland but the spices need to edge it on, not overpower it and become bossy. If you are serving this with nan, the flavours need to be just right so that it complements the nan perfectly.
Anyway, on TH's birthday this year, I wanted to share his most favourite dish and the recipe I have perfected over 4-5 trials. As mentioned, when I make Palak Paneer, I like to keep the recipe simple and don't add unnecessary thickening agents or cream.
Browse all paneer recipes here.
Serve Palak Paneer as a Side Dish with:
Tawa Naan
Jeera Rice
Methi Paratha
Simple Vegetable Pulav
Triangular Chapatis
Vegetable Biryani
Palak Paneer Recipe, how to make Palak Paneer
Ingredients
- 1 cup of cubed paneer how to make paneer
- 4-5 cups of palak or green spinach, packed
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon of minced ginger
- 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon of coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon of jeera cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
- 1 large pinch of kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- 1 teaspoon of garam masala
- 2 teaspoon of ghee or oil
- 1 pinch of hing or asafoetida
- 1 heaping teaspoon of tomato paste or 1 pureed tomato - optional
- 1 cup of milk or water
- 1 tablespoon of plain curd or yogurt - optional
Instructions
- How to Make Palak Paneer:
- The first step is to blanch the spinach. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and dunk the washed spinach leaves in it. Let it simmer for about 2 mins and then remove. Puree to a smooth paste.
- Drain the water and in the same bowl, heat the ghee or oil. Add the cumin powder and within 5 seconds, add the chopped onions. Saute until golden brown and add the spice powders like coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder, and hing. Fry for a few seconds, taking care not to burn them spices.
- Next, add the minced ginger and garlic and the tomato paste if using. Mix well and add the pureed spinach.
- Top this off with the milk. Mix well, bring to boil and add the kasuri methi and salt.
- Cook covered for about 6-8 mins until the spinach is completely cooked and spices have blended well into the gravy. Gently add the paneer pieces to the gravy.
- Top off with a tablespoon of curd (plain yogurt) if you want the gravy to be thicker. Sprinkle garam masala. Mix well and remove from the stove.
- Serve hot with nan, roti, or pulao
Step by Step Palak Paneer Recipe:
1. The first step is to blanch the spinach. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and dunk the washed spinach leaves in it. Let it simmer for about 2 mins and then remove. Puree to a smooth paste.
2. Drain the water and in the same bowl, heat the ghee or oil. Add the cumin powder and within 5 seconds, add the chopped onions. Saute until golden brown and add the spice powders like coriander powder, turmeric, chilli powder, and hing. Fry for a few seconds, taking care not to burn them spices.
3. Next, add the minced ginger and garlic and the tomato paste if using. Mix well and add the pureed spinach.
4. Top this off with the milk. Mix well, bring to boil and add the kasuri methi and salt.
5. Cook covered for about 6-8 mins until the spinach is completely cooked and spices have blended well into the gravy. Gently add the paneer pieces to the gravy.
6. Top off with a tablespoon of curd (plain yogurt) if you want the gravy to be thicker. Sprinkle garam masala. Mix well and remove from the stove.
Done! Delicious piping hot Palak Paneer is now ready.
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| Palak Paneer with Easy Vegetable Pulao (click for recipe) |
Notes:
- You can fry the paneer pieces in some oil, dunk it into hot water for a few seconds, squeeze and set aside to be added to the gravy later. This makes the paneer softer. Since I used fresh homemade Paneer, I avoided this step.
- Adjust the quantity of spices to your liking. For me, these quantities work out perfectly.
- You can add a couple of green chillies to the spinach while grinding instead of using red chilli powder. I generally do this but didn't have any fresh green chillies in hand that day.
For palak paneer recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Marathi, Kannada etc please use the Google translate button in the sidebar.
mim
thank you for this recipe... we made delicious p.p. for lunch and dinner. my fussy son wanted this everyday. amazing. i feel like a great chef today
Anonymous
i make it eaxctly the same way.... step by step lol...once ina while i grind tomatos with the palak
Anonymous
My first indian dish!! Delicious and so tweak-able with what I had on hand. It will be even better when I buy real ginger and not that other root that looks exactly like ginger and doesn't smell!
Visha
I did not have a couple of things at hand, like kasoori methi and paneer. Since I did not want to waste the 2 bunches of spinach lying away, I followed your recipe and ended up with a mouth watering paneer-less palak paneer. Also, this works if you use ginger-garlic paste instead of the two separate and sambar powder instead of the individual masala's.
Adding cumin powder before the onions - is it special for this dish or can this be used in other gravy dishes too?
Thank for such a tasty and delicious recipe 🙂
Nagalakshmi V
Adding sambar powder to palak paneer is a great South-Indian-friendly idea 😀
I like the flavour of roasted jeera so I add that first. You can do that for any dish. If you notice the pics, I actually added it later with the other masala because I had roasted jeera in hand but in the instructions I wanted folks to roast it first, for a better flavour. It's really up to you.
PS: your blog is very cute.
Visha
The lazy me made the south indian version 😉 But it tasted so delicious!!
Thanks 🙂
Sri
Can you post the rice receipe from last pic ?
Nagalakshmi V
It's a simple vegetable pulav recipe, Sri 🙂 Will post as soon as possible.
mee
Hello, i love your website - i follow it a lot. is it ok to add milk when we use onions? my husband gets very concerned when I mix onions and milk. is there a trick? to make sure nothing goes wrong?
Nagalakshmi V
Not sure what exactly the concern is. I have never heard of any issues with mixing onions and milk so don't have any "tips" to avoid "issues" either. If you are concerned, you can substitute water for milk. Does that work?
mee
thank you for your response. i am going to make this recipe on Thursday. thank you again!! 🙂
mee
I made the palak paneer-was v v nice:)) thank you for the wonderful recipe:)))
mee
i made palak paneer - and it was v v good! thank you for the wonderful recipe :)))
Dipti Joshi
In my experience, cooking the dish with the lid closed makes the spinach lose its rich green color. Do you have any tips regarding this?
Nagalakshmi V
in that case, you can cook it on very low flame without covering. the spinach is half cooked anyway.
anubhavati
Looks beautiful Nags. I completely agree on keeping palak simple and plain. My sister makes a version where the ginger is the star of the dish and its very delicately flavoured with the other spices. Altho I am not a great fan of ginger, this version was oh so delish! I love the kadai and the beautiful green of the palak and the paneer floating in it! I made my version with tempeh!!!
Shobha
Priya
Wat a tempting and breath taking picture, delicious palak paneer.
techie2mom
Tempting pics....
I make Paalak paneer with almost similar ingredients, but in different quantity...Though never tried adding kasoori methi, will try now...