India on Wheels: Recipe of Punjabi Palak Panner

Punjabi Palak Panner Recipe:

Ingredients:

For onion paste:Onions – 1 cup (1 medium), sliced
Cashew nuts – ¼ cup
Green chilies – 5, If you like spicier add more
Water – 1 cup
For spinach paste:Spinach – 6 cups (1 medium Bunch)
Water – about 5 cups
For curry:Paneer – 7 oz (200 grams), 1/2 inch cubed
Oil – 3 teaspoons
Ginger Paste – 1 teaspoon
Garlic Paste – 1 teaspoon
Tomatoes – ¼ cup, finely chopped
Black salt – ¼ teaspoon
Dried fenugreek leaves (Kasoori Methi)– 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala – 1 teaspoon
Salt – to taste
Heavy whipping cream (Malai) – 2 tablespoons.

Method:

1) Take sliced onion, cashews, green chilies and 1 cup of water in sauce pan and bring to a simmer.

2) Let it cook for 15 minutes. or until onions get soft. Almost 80% of water will evaporate. Let it cool a bit.

3) Meanwhile blanch the spinach. Boil 5 cups of water on medium heat, add spinach leaves. Let it cook exactly for 4 minutes.

4) And take spinach leaves out and put them into cold water or rinse under running cold tap water. To keep its bright green color intact, please follow exact time and method.

5) Grind onions first in smooth gravy. remove it to a bowl. and into same blender, puree the spinach without adding any water.

6) Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add ginger paste, garlic paste. sauté for 30 seconds or till raw smell goes away.

7) Then cook the tomatoes in for 2 minutes. Using back of spatula mash the tomatoes little bit.

8) Add onion paste, cook for 2 minutes. We don’t want to brown the onion paste

9) Mix in spinach puree. Let it come to a boil

10) Add black salt, dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala and salt. Mix well.

11) Add paneer cubes and mix gently. If the gravy is thick you can add water as per your liking consistency. Simmer it for 2 minutes or till the paneer cubes get heated through.