20 July, 2017
Healthy Twist To The Traditional Recipe Of Palak Paneer
Palak Paneer is one of the most popular Indian dishes which is made with cottage cheese paneer and spinach that is palak.
Here I have given a little twist to the traditional palak paneer recipe, using the same ingredients I have made palak paneer in a slightly different way. This is a quick delicious easy healthy recipe where spinach puree is layered with paneer grated cheese and tomato slices and finally baked.
This delicious palak paneer recipe is passed down from my dearest mother to me.
What is Palak Paneer?
- Palak is spinach
- Paneer is cottage cheese
- Here paneer is served with delicious creamy green mildly spiced spinach gravy .
Tips
- Most importantly, always use fresh tender spinach leaves.
- Firstly remove the stems from the leaves if they are dense and stringy.
- However you can add tender stem.
- Always blanch the spinach before using.
- Blanching helps to get rid of harmful microorganisms and chemicals ,it also helps to preserve green colour.
- Moreover it reduces the oxalic acid concentration , which makes it taste better .
- Store left over blanch spinach in freezer in air tight container or zip lock bag Or freeze into cubes and then store in ziplock bag.
- To give palak gravy a smooth texture I have used 2 – 3 tbsp of cream . However you can use cashewnuts or blanched almonds.
Blanching The Spinach
Clean and trim the spinach leaves. Soak the palak leaves in water for 5 to 10 minutes . It will remove all the mud and dirt sticking to the palak leaves. Then remove the leaves from the water in a colander or strainer,and rinse the palak leaves very well under running water.
Boil 3 cups of water in a pan ,add 1/8 tsp of salt and stir.Then off the flame add palak leaves to the hot water and let it sit for 1 minute. The leaves will soften.
Then keep a bowl of iced water ready. Plunge them into ice water. As a result the cooking process will stop. Allow the spinach leaves to stay in cold water for a minute .Drain the spinach from ice cold water and press the spinach to remove any excess water. This blanched spinach is ready to use.
Preparation Time:15minutes
Baking Time:20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Recipe
Ingredients
- Palak 300 gm
- Paneer 150 gm
- Cheese 100 gm
- Tomatoes 2 medium size, thinly sliced
- Green Chillies 2 to 3
- Garlic 8 cloves
- Cream 2 tbsp
- Salt to taste
- Pepper ¼ tsp
Method
1 . Grate paneer and cheese cubes set aside.
2 . Blanch the spinach leaves.
3 . To a blender, add the blanched spinach along with garlic, green chillies and salt. And puree to a smooth paste. Then add cream and blend well.
4 . Take a baking dish and pour the spinach puree into the dish.
5 . Top it with grated paneer over the palak puree. Then sprinkle grated cheese over it.
6 . Lastly spread thinly sliced tomatoes over it.
One thought on : 1
Wow so tasty