This is another Indian restaurant favourite and like many Indian restaurant favourites it is usually made in restaurants with a gallon or so of cream. Home-made versions have a much lighter touch and, as in my version below, often leave out the cream altogether. This means you can actually taste the spinach and paneer—a radical concept, I know. Again, palak=spinach; you can make this with a combination of greens and if you do then you’ll have saag paneer (saag=leafy greens).
There are two major components to good palak paneer: good spinach and good paneer (ideally, home-made). If you have those two it’s hard to go wrong. You can tweak the other ingredients (proportions and texture) to your liking and make it entirely your own. You can even add some cream, I suppose, but to my mind palak paneer is best when it’s pureed spinach and soft home-made paneer that are the source of the velvety richness.
Ingredients
- 1 lb spinach, steamed and pureed
- 1 lb paneer, cubed (half of this recipe)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tblspn ginger, grated
- 1 large clove garlic, grated
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi
- The following ground to a coarse powder: 2-3 dried red chillies, 1 small pinch mustard seeds, 1 small pinch fenugreek seeds, 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, 1 tblspn coriander seeds, 1/2 tblspn cumin seeds
- 1 small stick cinnamon/cassia bark
- 2-3 cloves
- I cup diced tomato
- 1-2 tblspns crushed kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
- Sugar, 1 pinch
- Salt to taste
- Oil
Preparation
- Heat up the oil and add the cinnamon/cassia and cloves.
- Once the oil has become fragrant add the chopped onions and cook over medium-high heat till the edges begin to brown.
- Add the grated ginger and garlic and stir till fragrant.
- Add the powdered masalas and turmeric and fry over medium heat for a minute or so.
- Add the tomatoes, sugar and salt and cook the tomatoes down completely.
- Add the pureed spinach and the crushed kasoori methi, mix, bring to a boil and simmer over medium-low heat till oil begins to separate.
- Add the cubed paneer, mix it all in gently and simmer covered for another 5-10 minutes.
- Serve with steamed rice or chapatis/parathas.
Illustrated Guide
Notes
- Some people fry the cubed paneer first. I do too sometimes but frankly I usually prefer not to: both because it’s an extra step and because I prefer the paneer softer.
- I always grate the ginger because I like to get the occasional gingery crunch while eating this.
- You could leave out the kasoori methi if you can’t find any easily but it’s sort of the secret weapon here: it adds depth to the spinach and also a savoury, almost smoky quality.
- If you want the texture thinner you can add some water along with the pureed spinach, but the tomatoes plus the pureed spinach (assuming you’ve added some of the steaming liquid to the blender with the steamed spinach) should be enough for a thick sauce. See how it goes for you.
- You could garnish the final dish with some garam masala but I prefer not to.
My Annoying Opinions 
Palak paneer is my favorite Indian dish! Have to try making it now…
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Mmm, thanks for this Mssr. …I will pass this along to the missus for next time we do Indian night, as I did with your recipe for the paneer (was hoping she’d take it on) .
Don’t think we’re stocking the kasoori methi but the HUGE Indian grocery off of Central Ave. in Columbia Heights isn’t too far away.
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Finally had a chance to pull this all together. I was worried about the spice ratio but they all came together nicely. The spinach ended up being a little woody, not sure if I needed more sugar or more tomatoes. Still, a great recipe and a healthy meal. Finished with an Amrut Portnova which has become very syrupy as its near the end. Def coming back to this recipe, thanks for posting.
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Very glad to hear it worked out for you. That woody note might be the dried fenugreek leaves (if you used them); maybe dial the amount back the next time and see?
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Cathy and I made this the other night and it turned out very nicely. Cathy also used your recipe for home-made paneer, and it was a revelation for her! She watched the curds float up and said “it’s like magic happening in front of your eyes!”
I prepped the spinach for her, and we were soon thoroughly enjoying this dish together. Like you said, it really wasn’t difficult putting the paneer together. I think your pics really helped her.
She also really liked the sauce from your meatball curry recipe I made, to which she added tofu for her protein. I also did a Kerala style ghee rice -YUM. Next I want to do your recipe for Kerala fish curry. Thanks!!
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Glad you enjoyed it (and the meatball curry sauce). It’ll be hard to put up with restaurant-quality paneer after making it at home. She should experiment with pressing it for shorter periods of time than I’m guessing she did the first time: soft, fresh paneer is a thing of beauty. In fact, some eat it as a crumble without bothering to press it into blocks at all.
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Thanks good to know – she did press it on the long side she said. Just got the fenugreek leaves from Pooja’s so will make again with that.
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Thank you! I just made this without paneer (or potato), but otherwise as directed. I love the Palak Paneer at my neighborhood Pakistani restaurant, but suspect that it isn’t very good for us. This was so delicious!!! I used Canola oil and added a knob of butter to finish. It’s a tad spicy, but that’s just the batch of chiles. I can’t wait to cook it again and again and get it down pat. Gonna go thank Steve Sando now for introducing us. Ha ha! Making your Mushoor Daal next!
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Glad you liked it—did you sub something for the paneer or did you just make this as a pureed spinach dish?
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Just as a pureed spinach dish, and I would happily do this again. I reserved a bit of the liquid that I cooked the spinach in and added about 1/2 cu to maintain a decent simmer after I added the spinach back. I added a touch more sugar and 1 tbsp. butter at the end to adust the texture a tiny bit. It was sublime. I will probably add potatoes next time, as it was very rich. I just didn’t have any today.
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