Palak Paneer / Cottage Cheese in Spinach gravy

Palak paneer- a mild green curry with paneer pieces and pureed spinach. What a delight to have on cold wintery days!

Palak Paneer, a Punjabi dish by origin, is a staple in Punjabi dhabas and very popular in  Indian restaurants worldwide. But what excites me most is when my daughter asks me to make it.

When most kids run away from spinach weirdly enough mine asks for the green curry. The only condition she has is do not make it too pasty like chutney. She likes the stems and dangling wilted leaves seen in the palak paneer instead. 

Ingredients:
Palak / Spinach- 1 big bunch
Paneer - 20 small pieces
Jeera/ cumin - 1 tsp
Garlic - 8-10 cut into pieces -(not chopped)
Red onion - 1 sliced
Green chilies - cut into round
Chili powder- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 1 tsp
Lime juice - of 1/2 a lime
Kasuri methi - a small pinch

Method:
1.Clean the spinach and wash it many times changing the water.
Heat a big pot of water when it boils add palak/spinach let it boil for 5 minutes once the color becomes nice green immediately take it out with tongs or with the help of two spoons and immerse it in cool water after two minutes remove and drain excess water keep aside to cool (this keeps the green beautiful and stops the cooking process)
Grind it to paste when cool.(Do not over cook mere wilting is enough)
2. Heat a pan with 2-3 tsp of cooking oil in it. Add cumin when its color changes add the garlic saute for few minutes add the green chilies and onion when the onion becomes translucent add salt red chili powder,turmeric powder and Coriander powder .Saute this until a nice aroma comes now add the palak paste little bit of water and when when it begins to boil add kasuri methi and the paneer pieces.Let it boil for one more minute then switch off flame.
While serving put a dash of fresh cream on top. I have skipped it.

Serve it hot with chappathi, phulkas,  naan or plain white basmathi rice and a dollop of ghee or butter on the side wahhh wahh.... is the only words u will want to utter after that. :))

Note : Do not boil for too long after adding palak paste as the fresh greenish color will fade off.

I have served it here with spicy pan fried potatoes.

Hope you like it.
Meena