Palak Paneer

This is a healthy and tasty way to incorporate spinach in your diet. After many trials & errors I have found this procedure best retains the fresh green spinach color.

4 cups packed spinach leaves - washed
1 1/2 cup cubed paneer
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 tsp coriander pwd
1/2 tsp red chilli pwd
1/4 tsp cinnamon pwd
1/4 tsp cloves pwd
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp kitchen king masala
1 tsp salt or per taste
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 - 3 tsp oil

Microwave the spinach with a sprinkling of water and salt for about 2 - 4 mins.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan. Lightly fry the cubed paneer. Drain them onto a paper towel.
Update 4/28/2013 - These days I have been marinating the paneer, per recipe from Aarti Sequeira at foodnetwork.com. I marinate the cubed paneer is some oil that is seasoned with salt, red chilli pwd and little turmeric pwd. After about 10 mins, I shallow fry the paneer and proceed as always. This adds a little extra zing to a dish which could sometimes be a little bland for some palates.

In the meanwhile, puree the onions. (I bought a Magic Bullet blender/processor a while back and it works great for quick purees/pwds etc.). Add the pureed onions to the same pan in which the paneer was fried. I do not usually add any more oil at this stage. Fry the onions on medium high for atleast 5 mins. Puree the tomatoes and add to the onions, along with the ginger paste, cumin pwd, coriander pwd, red chilli pwd, cinnamon pwd and cloves pwd. Fry another 5 - 7 mins on medium. Puree the microwaved spinach. Do not add too much water, 2 - 3 tbsp should be enough. Add the pureed spinach to the onion - tomato mix. Add salt, sugar, lemon juice, garam masala and kitchen king masala. Mix well. Simmer on low for 5 mins. Add the fried paneer and simmer for another 5 mins.

Thats it. Tasty, healthy palak paneer is ready. Goes well with rotis/naans/parathas or pulavs.