Palak Paneer – Indian Cheese-Spinach Curry
Palak Paneer is a delicious, hearty North Indian dish prepared with spinach and Indian cheese. This traditional greens based vegetarian dish is a rich, smooth, creamy curry where paneer cubes are cooked in a onion-tomato-spinach based gravy which is moderately spiced with Indian spices.
I have tried various variations of the Palak Paneer curry and one of my favorites has been this particular recipe given to me by a dear Punjabi friend, Darshan.
The smooth and creamy consistency, melt in the mouth paneer cubes and the simple ingredients which go into making this dish give it a delightful subtle sweet flavor that is sure to keep you satisfied. This curry makes a great accompaniment with rotis, naan or hot steamed rice.
Palak Paneer Recipe
Recipe source: My friend Darshan
Prep & Cooking: 45mts
Serves 5-6 persons
Cuisine: North Indian
.
250 gms paneer (cubed and lightly fried till brown in a tsp of ghee)
3 big bunches spinach (discard the coarse stems) – blanch in hot water for 2 mts and make a paste and keep aside
1 ½-2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 onions finely chopped
2 green chillis slit length wise
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp red chilli pwd
1 tbsp coriander pwd
2 big juicy tomatoes (blanched in hot water, peeled and pureed)
1 cup water (use the water in which spinach was blanched)
salt to taste
½ tsp garam masala pwd (make a pwd of 2 cloves, 1 cardamom and 1” cinnamon stick)
1 tbsp malai (top of milk)
¼ tsp kasuri methi (optional)
1 Add ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and add cumin seeds and let them splutter. Add the onions and green chillis sauté them till light brown. Don’t burn them.
2 Add ginger garlic paste and fry further for 3 minutes. Add red chilli pwd and coriander pwd and combine well.
3 Add the tomato paste and let it cook for 5-6 mts on medium heat. Add the palak paste and let it cook further for another 4-5 mts.
4 Add the fried paneer cubes and combine. Cook covered on low heat for 3 mts. Add the palak water and salt and cook on medium heat for 10-12 mts.
5 Add malai, garam masala pwd and kasuri methi and mix well.
6 Reduce flame, cover and cook for 2 mts.
7 Serve hot with rotis or white steamed rice or rotis.
Note:
You could also add paneer directly (without frying in ghee) to the cooked spinach. Another variation you could do with the spinach is coarsely chop the spinach and stir fry in a little ghee instead of pureeing it and add it ( instead of the palak paste). But to get the creamy consistency, you have to blanch and puree the palak.
By Sailu • Aug 2nd, 2006 • Category: All Recipes, Curry Recipes, Dairy & Milk, Indian Paneer Recipes, North Indian Recipes, Vegetarian Recipes
Ooohhh ! your palak paneer looks delicious. I bet it tastes delicious too.
I love making fresh paneer from time to time!
Palak paneer looks yummy sailu..Thanks for sharing..
Mmmmm…. Yummy……..
Although I’m not a fan of palak paneer….your pictures look moith-watering…specially the last one with the colorful rice by the side.
Hi Sailu,
Yummy Paneer dish.
i love this combo always.
Vineela
hi
i am big fan of ur cooking site and thank u for ur great recipies ..ur palak paneer looks yummy…i got this secret tip .try adding half tsp of tamarind paste at the end of the cooking and let it cook for few more mins.. u have to try it to know the difference thank you!!
Mouth watering presentation! Palak paneer is one dish I always order at restaurants but I am disappointed with the ones made at home. I will try your recipe soon.
WOW…those are wonderful pictures Sailu, great job. I just love paneer, any restaurant I go a paneer dish is a sure one and more so Palak paneer. I’ve never tried making it at home as the paneer I get here is not so good. But next time I get some good paneer I’m going to give ur recipe a try
That’s my favourite recipe.Liked the variation with the Garam masala.gr8t. will try it soon.
Just found your site and love it, as I am passsionately interested in Indian food and am currently teaching myself how to make the wonderful dishes. I have tried a Palak Paneer recipe at home, turned out OK, the paneer was very good but the spinach lacked something. I want to try yours, can you explain what is meant by making a paste from the spinach? Is it chopped, blended in food processor…..that part confuses me. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks, Kate.
Spinach is not chopped, Kate. Blanch in hot water, strain and blend to make a fine paste. Use the strained water during the cooking process. Hope this helps.
I was very surprised when I read “cheese”… you do not use so much cheese in India cousine or?
Nice recipe.
Ciao.
Hi Sailu,
Mee palak panner kurra channa bhagundi,Nice presentation as usual:)
This looks very delicious!
Paz
Hi Sailu,
Palak and paneer both are my favorite dishes. I make these quite often. Great pics as usual!
Palak Paneer is a classic dish, Sailu. I am sure gonna refer to your recipe when I make it next.
Hi Sailu,
Your Palak paneer looks soooo delicious, thanx for sharing.
Sailu congratulations!I read the article in the Hindu Business Line where your blog has been mentioned.
sailu, Looking at the pics has made me so hungry that I am going to logoff and eat something immediately. Too bad I can’t have your palak Paneer
Hmm…Looks Yummy..I am definitely going to give it a try..
Sailu,
I tried this recipe although the taste was great, the texture of the panneer in the gravy was like rubber. I used store brought paneer. Do you have any suggestions to make them absolutely melt in the mouth kind as shown in your picture.
Thanks in advance,
Raji
hi sailu,
the paneer looks delicious. lovely photos. hadn’t been to your blog for a while but i’ve bookmarked it now (i’m still old fashioned!) and will return regularly.
hi Sailu, palak paneer is one of my favorites — the gravy looks delicious.
Best wishes!
Hi Sailu,
Miss u.
Long time no see. Hope all is fine at your end. Do keep us posted
Hi Sailu,
I just discovered your site and I am amazed! Not only by your cooking but your photos as well! They are awesome! I have tried to use your techniques but not coming out the same (have a look at http://theclothedcook.blogspot.com).
Also I am not a big fan of paneer and I was wondering if I could substitute for tofu. Do you think the essence of curry will be lost?
Will be coming here regularly!
Praveena.
the recipe and the pics bring back my faith in palak paneer sailu. the past few times i had this both in other people’s houses and restaurants, i hated the stuff. most people up north put too much of butter and that kinda mars the taste.
will try out your recipe one of these days.
btw how is your little one?
I am sure you will enjoy this version of the palak paneer as its not very high in calories, Rums. Thanks for enquiring about my lil fella, he’s doing good..::)
Will go to the Indian groceries today and buy palak and paneer and make the dish and surprise my daughter who always says “amma, how can you manage to be such a bad cook. It takes an effort, isn’t it?” Well daughter, wait and see what amma serves next.
So the little one is in for a surprise from Amma..:):). I hope you guys enjoy this delicious dish, Chandrika.
Hi Sailaja,
I was always waiting for our indian dishes.
Thank you for the work you are doing.
I will try this out this week end..
yash
Thanks for dropping by, Yasaswy. I hope you like the recipes..:)
Hi Sailu,
Thanks for wounderful recipe. As per my knowldge Mixing of Palak and Tomoto can leads to form of kidny stones.
i need some advice,i’ve been tryin ure recipes from time to time, recently i tried a new recipe, a mustard curry fish recipe, but the curry came out tasting quite bitter, and i’m confused why? and what could i do to decrease the bitterness….
thanks for ure help….
hai Sailu!!!
ur recipe is very nice and very easy to prepare..
I want to know the recipe of dry fruit halwa. Can u help me out??
hi,sailu
ur recipe is very nice its so easy and i want to know the recipe of chicken biryani.can u please help me,take care
thank u,
chinni
Hi Sailu,
I tried your recipe for palak paneer and it came out very nice. –thanks for sharing this recipe.
hai sailu,
i saw all ur dishes made by paneer and can u help me in doing 1 thing. i am going to participate in a contest which will be held in few more days in my hometown and we have to do snacks with paneer so can u send me the recipe of any snacks made with paneer and i am very sure that i can win the contest if u help me in sending the recipe.
I will be preparing a paneer snack tomorrow and will blog about it too. You can check my blog for the recipe on 4th or 5th March. Hope the recipe serves your purpose, Manju.
It is a pleasure to check the recipes at your blog. It is done with so much appreciation and care. Thanks.
May I add one tip please?. The palak retains the green colour if it is blanched in hot water and immediately held under cold water. Another tip is to add some sugar while blanching to retain the green colour.
Please do continue your good work. god bless
Hi,
I found your recipe from a google search that i did… i made it with a couple of changes but with the same ingredients that you mentioned : (a) After frying the paneer, i added the cream to it and let it soak for 15 mins to soften it, and so didn’t add the cream as in the step 5 of your recipe. (b) green chilli: I added it while making the ginger garlic paste and therefore didnt add it separately while frying as in step 1.
Overall the result was absolutely delicious and thanks a lot for providing this recipe. I made it for the first time, and it was amazingly delicious with hot rotis!
I tried your recipe and it turned out awesome! I made my own paneer and did not fry it… still yummy! Thanks for sharing.
hi,
this is a very good recipe, your recipe site is also excellent. thanks
hi sailu,
ur receipe is very nice & very easy, i am tempted a lot to prepare it by seeing the photos of the dish in ur site, it’s really superb. all the best.
Oh! this came out, real good. I made palak paneer for the first time. thanks much.
Hi,
I am in love with your website.Beautiful and definitely mouth watering presentation.Yesterday I made chicken masala meatballs my son loved them.I find myself drawn to your website and comming back to check your website for more.I appreciate you sharing your recipes and making it excitng to cook.Thank you.
Hey Sailu,
I love this site because it gave me all the receipes i’ve been looking for, especially the Andhra style of cooking. I come from Hyderabad and currently living in NY. I’ve always wondered how they made the pachadi’s. Thanks to you now i know, i’ve tried them out and they were just like the ones i had in India.
So thank you and keep posting more Andra style receipes.
Pearl…
Sailu, I just had to tell you that I made your palak paneer today. I am a self-professed palak paneer hater, but my husband loves the dish. Well, yours came out so well that he loved it and you’ve managed to convert me to liking palak paneer. Kudos to you!
Just made the Palak Paneer. This was an awesome recipe! I had eaten it at a Indian restaurant yesterday and this recipe (and my cooking!) was on par with the restaurants! Thank you so much for sharing this with us so that I can make this at home for my family! I fried the paneer and soaked it in milk rather than cream and pureed all the pastes together with the onions after cooking it, before adding the paneer. This would also be great with chicken for a non-vegetarian dish. Thanks again!
Sailu,
I always liked recipes from your blog (not just the pictures but how the food tastes once you make it).
My wife visits your blog but every once in a while when I am not lazy enough and decide to cook something, I pick a recipe from your site.
This valentines day, my wife made the best palak paneer I had in a long time. Thanks for the recipe.
Today, its my turn to make the same dish again. We both loved it. thank you.
Hi,
I have a doubt in palak. Is palak and pudhina same? I went to supermarket there i found all greens named spinach such as round spinach, small spinach. Shall we call pudhina as spinach. or spinach is different from pudina. Please tell this. Becoz of this confusion, i not able 2 try this recipe.
Pudina is called mint and palak is spinach.
hi latha, palak is called spinach. pudhina is called mint.
love palak paneer with all my heart!
[...] how about Sailu’s Palak Paneer, spinach and paneer (Indian cheese curry)? If not, you [...]
It looks Yummy………
Dear Sailu,
Hope you are well. I tried making this at home but it tasted bitter. Where do you think I went wrong or how can I fix this? Please advise?
Many Thanks Sailu garu,
Regards
Manav
Did you blanch the palak leaves enough that they turn soft or were they still kacha (raw)? Sometimes the spinach variety could have a bitter flavor. Do try it another time and give me your feedback. If its bitter, try adding a little milk and sugar towards the end of the cooking process and go on stirring till the milk is well combined. ~ ‘Sailaja’
i made this and posted it today on my blog
Hi Sailu,
I found your site on a google search. I simply love the recipes posted and I really want to thank you for them. This is the best cooking website as to my knowledge. I tried many recipes from your site like dal makhani, paneer butter masala, paneer makhani and above all andhra mutton curry. They all turned out to be delicious. Thank once again and keep up up the good work.
P.S….I like your description of them too:).
Palak Paneer looks divine Sailu
Thanks sailaja garu for the wonderful recipe…….at first i was a bit hestistant to try this out as the recipe contained less ingredients/spices and what if my husband doesnt like its taste…..but u know he really liked it….and asks for it whenever i plan to make Naans/roti.
wow it looks really delicious. i bet it tastes good too.
Hi Sailu,
I was looking for a good palak paneer recipe today on google. I found ur recipe there. Perfect! I will try your version today and post about it later in the day or may be in the evening!
Regards,
Veda
HI Sailu,
I found your recipe for palak paneer through a google search and attempted to make it last night. It was my first time cooking with paneer and it turned out sort of rubbery or like firm tofu. Is it supposed to be creamy and melt in your mouth? If so where did I go wrong? From reading the other reviews it looks like I did miss a step and never soaked it in cream after frying. Is that what makes it soft? I love your site though and will be back to try some more recipes!
Thanks,
Ted
Oh…I have tried this recepie……..it wasmade delisious….
Thanks for such a nice preparation.
Good luck
OMG! I am SO hungry right now! I will make this sometime this week, I HAVE to!!
hi sailu, i am an actor. i do a daily serial called sravanti in which i play saranya alias sravanti. i have lot of fans but i am ur greatest fan. i love cooking and i have passion for it. whenever i get time i log on to ur site to see the latest recipe. ur pictures makes it even more interesting and every dish i try i get it just right. good recipes. keep it up. i would like to know the recipe of typical hyderabadi handi biryani. i know u live in vizaq if i come to vizaq i would love to meet you. all the best bye !
Its a wonderful recipe. You can check some more delicious Palak Paneer Recipes here.
My husband has tried many online recipes for palak paneer and all of them turned out horrible!
We tried your recipe last week and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!!
Thank you
can u tell me how to make malai at home . as i dont get it where i live.
[...] ビンディ・マサラ*, ベイガン・バルタ*, パラク・パニール* をいただいたのですが どれも、わたしはスゴく好きな味でした。 * ビンディ・マサラ: オクラがメインのスパイシーな野菜炒め煮。 インド風肉じゃがの肉ナシ(笑) というのが、ピンとくる例えだと思うんですが。。 » Bhindi Masala * ベイガン・バルタ: つぶした焼きナスの炒めもの。これ、サイコーでした♥ » Baigan Bharta * パラク・パニール: カッテージチーズとほうれん草のカレー。 かなりコリアンダーと塩味が効いていました » Palak Paneer [...]
Hello Sailu ,
Thought of messaging you long back but couldnt get time to do
Hmm let me tell about my Palak paneer
It just turned out awesome though it was my first try
My dad mom n bro liked it a lottt…And i enjoyed my success …
Thanks for it. It came out so well coz of ur recipe..
Tc ..sailu
Bye…
Yummy, very good taste. My husband was very very appreciative of me. Thank u very much, Sailu.
Hi Sailu,
All recipes are really very good. And especially Palak Paneer. Thanks a lot.
hi sailu .
i really enjoying to watch your blog
and i liked this receipe very much
palak paneer is my favourite dish in north indian food
i really thank to send this item
thanks alot
Hi Sailu
I reach office 15 minutes early. As soon as I turn on my computer I go to my favourites and click on your website. You make my day. Thanks
I buy frozen spinach. Are you able to tell me the weight in grams for
the spinach used in the recipe
Thanks and looking foward to the taro stirfry recipe
Your welcome, Sarita.
I will not be able to tell you the weight in grams. But you could use about 1 1/2 cups of blanched and pureed spinach for this recipe. Yes, will blog the taro fry recipe soon.
love it- really good- kasuri methi adds a layer of complexity. One of my favorite dishes and the kids love it. I will try others too.
thanks
I tried out your recipe yesterday and it was AWESOME! Thank you for posting it
What a gorgeous recipe! I followed it exactly…actually timed how many minutes I was frying everything and it turned out wonderful! I added some extra half n half though to make it more creamy!