Meatless Monday – Palak Paneer (Spinach with Cheese and Indian Spices)

This is one of my all time favorite dishes. I love the velvety creamy spinach turned mildly exotic with spices, and the marinated paneer that has been fried so the outside is crunchy/spicey but it’s still moist and tender inside. I got the idea of marinating the paneer when I saw my twins gobbling up tofu at our favorite “fast food” Mex place. Marinating the paneer definitely takes this dish to a whole other level of delicious. There are a few steps to making this, but it’s not tedious. In fact you could do the prep for the spinach and paneer the night before, to make it easier to cook on a weeknight. Comes together in about an hour. Enjoy!

Ingredients
11⁄2 cups paneer, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon oil of choice
1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric
1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala
Dash of cayenne pepper
Pinch of salt, or salt to taste
Large bowl of ice water
3 6oz bags of fresh spinach (makes roughly 2 cups when cooked/wilted)
1 tablespoon oil of choice
2 tablespoons ghee
Bay leaf
1 cup of onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped or grated with microplane
1⁄2 teaspoon ginger, finely grated with a microplane
1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric
1⁄2 teaspoon cumin powder
1⁄2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 cup of tomatoes, pureed in a blender or food processor
1 teaspoon pink salt, or salt to taste
1⁄4 cup of heavy whipping cream

Instructions
1. In a medium sized bowl combine paneer with oil, turmeric, garam masala, cayenne pepper, and salt. Set aside.
2. Rinse spinach leaves.
3. In a large skillet working in batches, add spinach and cook until just wilted.
4. Immediately place spinach into cold iced water to stop the cooking process. Drain the water after 2 minutes.
5. Puree spinach in a blender or food processor. Set aside.
6. In a small skillet heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat.
7. Add paneer and cook stirring frequently until all sides are golden brown.
8. Remove from heat and place paneer onto a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
9. Heat ghee in large skillet over medium heat.
10. Add bay leaf.
11. Add onions, and stir.
12. Saute onions until golden brown.
13. Add garlic and ginger, stir.
14. Add turmeric, cumin, and coriander, stir to combine and cook for 30 seconds.
15. Add tomatoes, stir.
16. Add salt, stir.
17. Cook tomatoes until you see the fat separating from the tomatoes.
18. Add spinach, stir to combine.
19. Add cream, stir.
20. Fold in paneer.
21. Serve and enjoy!

**Check out some of the items I used here by clicking on the Amazon link below. This link is an affiliate link, your purchase costs will be the same but The Masala Girl will automatically receive a small commission, thanks for your support. 🙂