Palak paneer is one of the most popular North Indian curries served with roti, naan, fulka, or chapati. It is a thick, creamy, green color palak curry with paneer cubes and some Indian spices. Here “Palak” is a Hindi name of spinach and “Paneer” is Hindi name of Indian cottage cheese. Initially, my family members didn’t like palak paneer, they preferred other paneer curries except palak one. But when I browsed a few youtube videos, I learnt different methods. So, I combined the recipes learnt through YouTube videos, my friend’s recipe and finally added my own tips and tricks and prepared the curry. Now it is loved by everyone in my family. In fact, now palak paneer tops the list of favorite paneer curries in my family.
It is mostly prepared in the winter season because palak is easily available in winters.
I always like preparing palak paneer on weekends and during any occasion. It is both healthy and tasty, as palak is rich in iron and paneer is a rich source of proteins.
In this article, I’ve shown the procedure for both Homestyle style and Dhaba style palak paneer. So, you can try any one or both as per your mood!
Homestyle Palak Paneer Recipe
In this version of the palak paneer, I have used paneer cubes, palak paste, tomato paste, and some Indian spices. In this recipe, I have not used onion and garlic as in my family, we prefer no onion no garlic food.
Since I have not used onion and garlic in this recipe, this homestyle palak paneer can be easily prepared and enjoyed during any fasting season.
Let’s begin with the palak paneer recipe.
Ingredients:
- Spinach (palak)- 250 gms (cleaned & washed)
- Cottage cheese (paneer cubes)- 200 gms
- Tomato (tamatar)- 2 midium sized
- Green chilli (hari mirch)- 2-3
- Ginger (adrakh)- 1 inch
- Cumin seeds (jeera)- 1/2 tsp
- Black cardamom (badi elaichi)- 1
- Green cardamom (choti elaichi)- 1
- Cinnamon stick (dalchini)- 1/2 inch
- Dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)- 2tsps
- Cloves (laung)- 2
- Coriander (dhania) powder- 1&1/2 tsp
- Cumin (jeera) powder- 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric (haldi) powder- 1/3 tsp
- Red chilli (lal mirch) powder- 1/3 tsp
- Garam masala powder- 1/2 tsp
- Fresh cream (malai)- 2 tbsps
- Oil- 3 tbsps
- Salt- As per taste
- Water- 1/2 cup
For Garnishing:
- Fresh cream
- Paneer- grated
- coriander leaves (dhania patta)- chopped
Preparation Method:
- First clean & wash the spinach properly
- In a pan heat water (1/2 glass)
- Cover the pan and let it cook for 2-3 minutes
- After 2-3 minutes, open the pan
- Transfer the spinach into a mixer jar
- Let it cool down for few minutes
- Grind it into a fine paste
- Take tomato, green chilli and ginger, grind it into a fine paste (Do not add water)
- Heat a pan, add oil and let it heat properly
- Add cumin seeds, let it splutter. After that add black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick, fry them for few seconds
- Add fenugreek leaves.
- Add tomato paste and stir it well
- Add all dry masala powder except garam masala powder
- Fry the masala till oil separets
- Add cream, beat the cream properly before adding (You can use homemade cream too). Stir well
- Add spinach paste, stir it well
- Add salt and mix well
- Add garam masala, mix well
- Add paneer cubes and mix it well with the light hand
- Add water (1/2 cup), mix well
- Cover the pan and let it cook for 3-4 minutes on low flame
- After 3-4 minutes, open the pan, stir it well
- Switch off the flame. Tasty palak paneer is ready
- You can garnish it with some fresh cream, grated paneer and chopped coriander leaves
- Tasty Palak Paneer is ready to serve
This delicious palak paneer goes well with roti, naan, or paratha. You can also serve it with cumin rice (jeera rice), ghee rice, or plain steamed rice.
Video recipe palak paneer
Tips for homestyle palak paneer recipe
- Do use good quality paneer as it is the key ingredient of this recipe. I generally prefer homemade paneer which is soft with a melt-in-mouth texture.
- If you are using store bought paneer then soak it in slightly hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and use it. This helps to keep the paneer soft.
- To get the best green color of this recipe, prevent overcooking spinach which darkens the dish.
- Use few ice-cubes while grinding blanched palak (spinach).
- Here I have used some cream to give the smooth creamy texture to the palak paneer gravy. but, you can skip the cream and use some cashew or blanched almonds paste.
Dhaba Style Palak Paneer
This Dhaba-style version of palak paneer is prepared with paneer cubes (cottage cheese), spinach (palak), onion, and some Indian spices. In the Dhaba style palak paneer, do not use tomatoes.
This delicious palak paneer recipe was shared with me by one of my friends cum neighbors, once when she had invited me to dinner, I tasted it and I really liked it.
Then I asked her for the recipe. So, I referred her recipe as well as used some tips and tricks from my own experience.
So let’s begin with the recipe without any further delay.
INGREDIENTS:
- Paneer (cottage cheese)- 200 gm (cubes)
- Paneer (cottage cheese)- 50 gm (grated)
- Palak (spinach)- 1 bunch
- Onion (pyaz)- 1 medium size (chopped)
- Garlic (lahsun)- 5-6 (paste)
- Ginger (adrakh)- 1/2 inch (grated)
- Green chilli (hari mirch)- 2 (split)
- Cumin seeds (jeera)- 1 tsp
- Bay leaf (tejpatta)- 1
- Green cardamom (hari elaichi)- 1
- Cinnamon (dalchini)- less than 1/2 inch
- Cloves (laung)- 4
- Kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)- 1 tsp ( a handful of finely chopped fresh fenugreek leaves can also be used instead of dry fenugreek leaves).
- Coriander (dhania) powder- 1 tsp
- Cumin (jeera) powder- 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper (kali mirch) powder- 1/2 tsp
- Red chilli (lal mirch) powder- 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric (haldi) powder- 1/3 tsp
- Garam masala powder- 1/3 tsp
- Cream (malai)- 1 tbsp
- Milk (doodh)- 2-3 tbsps
- Salt (namak)- to taste
- Oil (tel)- 2 tbsp
- Chopped coriander (kata dhania)- a little (for garnishing)
- Ice cubes (barf ke tukde)- 3-4 (the reason behind adding ice cubes is that it helps to remain the green color of spinach green).
- Water (pani)- as required
For Tempering:
- Butter (makkhan)- 2 cubes
- Kashmiri red chilli- 1/2 tsp
- Dry red chilli (lal mirch)- 2
- Asafoetida (hing)- a pinch
- Grated ginger (adrakh)- 1/2 tsp
For garnishing:
- Grated paneer- 2-3 tsp
- Cream (malai)- 2 tsp
- Chopped coriander- 1 tsp
Preparation Method:
- First clean the spinach properly after that wash it well 2-3 times with water.
- In a pan boil 1/2 glass of water.
- Add spinach in boiling water and boil it for 2-3 minutes on medium flame.
- After 2-3 minutes take it out and let it cools down for few minutes.
- Add spinach in grinding jar and 3-4 ice cubes (Here I am adding ice cubes to remain its colour perfect green), grind it into a fine paste.
- Heat 2 tbsps oil, add paneer cubes and fry it till light golden colour. Do not over fry them, as then they become hard.
- Take them out and soak it in water for few minutes, then drain and use.
- In the same oil add cumin seeds, let them splutter
- Add bay leaf.
- Add cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, let them splutter.
- Add kasuri methi, grated ginger, stir well.
- Now add finely chopped onion and saute well till light golden colour on medium flame.
- Add garlic paste and slit green chillies, Saute well until the raw aroma of garlic goes away.
- Add coriander powder, cumin powder, black pepper powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder, add 1 tbsp of water, mix well
- Fry the masala until oil separets from masala on medium flame.
- Add grated paneer and cream (malai), I usually prefer to use homemade cream.
- Stir well continuosly until oil separets.
- Add spinach puree, mix well.
- Add milk, mix well.
- Add salt according to your taste and mix well.
- Add fried paneer, mix well
- Add water, stir well.
- Add garam masala, mix well
- Cover the pan and cook it for 5 minutes on medium flame.
- After 5 minutes check it
- Switch off the flame.
- Add finely chopped coriander and mix well.
Tempering:
You can garnish it with grated paneer, cream, grated ginger (or ginger julienne), and finely chopped green coriander. Also, you can drizzle a few drops of lemon juice on the top when serving.
Delicious Dhaba-style palak paneer is ready to serve. It can be served with tandoori roti, naan, or plain tawa roti. it also goes well with jeera rice (cumin rice) or plain steamed rice.
- Heat a tempering pan.
- Add butter, let it melt.
- Add dry red chili and asafoetida.
- Add grated ginger, stir well
- Switch off the flame.
- Add Kashmiri red chili.
- Add this temparing to palak paneer.
Nutrition palak paneer recipe (200 g)
The estimated nutrition facts of a serving (200 g) of palak paneer are as follows:
| Nutrition | Estimated Values (200g) |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Protein | 16 g |
| Carbohydrates | 12 g |
| Dietary fiber | 3 g |
| Total calories | 340 cal |
200 g of palak paneer has about 340 calories. Out of which it has about 16g of protein, 12g of carbs, 26g of fat, and 3g of fiber. Read more on paneer protein and calories
Tips & Tricks:
- Do use good quality of paneer, I generally prefer to use homemade paneer. If you are using store bought paneer, soak it in little hot water for 10-15 minutes. Then drain and use.
- Always use soft, tender Spinach leaves, remove dense stringy stem of spinach. Soft and tender stem can be used.
- If you are vegan Tofu can be used instead of paneer. You can use cashew paste or blanched almonds paste in place of regular cream.
- You can use a dash of dry mango powder or few drops of lemon juice in spinach gravy to give slightly sour taste to the dish.
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