Makeover to the Palak Paneer: Spinach with Cottage Cheese

Did I say that I love my version of Palak Paneer most ?? Well, I used to ofcourse.. But as they say, pretension is never good for health :)..  Last weekend at a get together, one of my friends prepared an incredible Spinach Corn side dish. I was so amazed to know that she did not bake it rather cook it normally on gas stove. How come I was never acquainted with this version of Spinach, I thought irately and who am I to brag on my own recipes.. Huh ! Immediately in the following week, I prepared Palak Paneer using her method and I must say, I liked it even more than my own  recipe Of this dish.

The texture of the dish was a bit dry and quite mixed up, a bit like you taste in a spinach corn sandwich. I asked her how come she could have spinach so dry and yet so luscious. Well, she is a pleasant lady, just smiled and gave me the secret. What she does is, squeezing up all the liquid from the steamed spinach and then grinding it coarsely. And just prepare it with the usual Ginger-garlic-onion tempering. I added some tomatoes in it too which indeed delivered some extra flavour. Although, the process seems to be time taking, but it’s fairly simple once you actually start with it and was very quick since I used packaged Paneer cubes and frozen peas.

You can see my own version of Palak Paneer here, which I still brag upon. Here’s a lesson I learnt and a recipe I now love to the core !!!

What you need ?

• 3 cups Spinach Leaves, blanched** see notes 
• 1 cup Paneer cubes, soaked in 2 tbsp Milk
• 1/2 cup peas, thawed if frozen
• 1 Large Onion, chopped small
• 2 tomatoes, pureed
• 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
• 1 green chilli, chopped fine
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Red Chili Powder, Turmeric powder, coriander powder each
• 1 tsp Garam Masala

How to make ?

• Squeeze the Spinach well and release most of the water content from it. You can store this water and use it for  kneading the dough for chapatis or use it in Curry etc. 
• Give the spinach a pulse in blender, just blend it coarsely. It should not be pureed but just coarsely blended,  keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, fry onions till brown. Remember the onions should be properly caramelized, it will give a really nice flavor to the dish.
• Add ginger garlic paste and green chilies. Fry for 1 min stirring frequently. Add all the spices except garam masala and combine.
• Add pureed tomatoes and cook covered for next 4-5 min, it will get thick. Now add paneer ( along with the milk it is soaked in ) and peas and mix well so that the masala coats on the paneer cubes evenly. Cook covered for next 4-5 min stirring in between.
• When the peas get tender and cooked, add spinach, stir well and cook covered for next 2-3 min till all the extra water evaporates and the dish gets a bit dried off. 
• Sprinkle garam masala and turn off the flame. Keep it covered for some time and serve hot.

Notes: 

• To blanch spinach, wash and then drain it well and keep in a microwave safe dish. Microwave it on high for 4 minutes, all the leaves will become soft and tender. Drain all the water out of this when cool enough.
• This dish will get thicker when kept for some time, so you may add a tbsp of milk when going to reheat
• To stuff it into Sandwich, make sure it has not extra water and its not runny at all. Stuff it in, and toast the bread from both sides on griddle. Cut diagonally from the centre and serve with Chutney or Ketchup

My other Paneer Recipes :

Paneer Masaaledar
PAneer Bhurji with Spinach
Paalak Paneer 
Kaju Paneer 
Methi Malayi Paneer