palak paneer (spinach with cottage cheese)

hey!

a lot of people (ok, a few people ....... fine, one person, one time) asked me how i got into cooking - it was when my mom had a boutique and sometimes me and my sister cooked for her. i was confined to chopping and cutting and laying out the plates - an apprentice you might say. i used to cook maggi noodles sometimes with veggies. I still remember the first dish i cooked from A-Z was for my parents - malai kofta and that is one of the best feelings I've ever had. it is considered to be a rather complex dish, especially for a beginner like me. i used to have 2/3 signature dishes in the beginning - rajma (red kidney beans) recipe of mankad aunty, alu and gobhi parathe (potato and cauliflower stuffed naans) and the recipe over here - palak paneer. i was watching khaana khazana (cookery show) one afternoon after i came from college and the chef - sanjeev kapoor was making this amazingly tempting, simple and foolproof dish, and i thought i might have a go at it.

I didn't know how to make everyday food till quite late, it was only when I went to Bangkok for 3 months to be with my Dad in 2004 that I started cooking healthy everyday food. anyways, here's one of my early specialties - palak paneer

ingredients (for 4 average people) -

1. spinach - leaves weight 400gms
2. paneer - 300 gms
3. onion - 200 gms
4. tomato - 100 gms (1 big tomato)
5. cumin - 1 teaspoon
6. crushed ginger - 1 tablespoon
7. crushed garlic - 1 tablespoon
8. bay leaves - 2 big leaves
9. cinnamon - 1 stick
10. star aniseed - 2 whole
11. milk - 125 ml
12. chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
13. coriander powder - 3 teaspoon
14. turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
15. canola/ vegetable/ sunflower/ groundnut oil - 50 ml
16. thickened cream as a topping - optional

********* (for all future indian recipes, generally chilli-coriander-turmeric - in alphabetical order goes in the ratio 1:3:1)
remove stems from spinach, boil water, put the spinach leaves in and leave for 2-3 mins - turn the heat off and let the leaves stay there for 5 mins.

take the leaves out immediately and leave them in COLD water for a couple of mins (helps to retain the shiny greeen color)- put them in a blender with 50 ml milk (if needed) and blend. empty into a bowl. throw in the another 50 ml milk and run the blender again - it is going to rescue the spinach stuck to walls of the blender and you won't waste spinach (I really hate when i have to wash the blender with spinach remaining on the sides). put this in the bowl as well - and mix together.

dice tomatoes and onions fine.

heat oil in a deep pan and when hot, add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and bay leaves.

after half a minute, throw in onion, crushed ginger and garlic - (it's important to let the dry spices release flavours for about 30 secs because once you put the onion, ginger and garlic, the oil cools down and then the cumin flavor is not spread which is a waste of spice). stir occasionally and cook o medium high until onions and brown - but not burnt.

mix chilli, coriander and turmeric powders in a small bowl with about the remaining 25 ml milk and mix well - add to the onions and cook for 20 secs. then add the diced tomato and cook for 2 mins. you don't want the tomato to become mushy and soggy buy just become soft. add the spinach and milk paste and salt - turn down heat to 4 o'clock position (refer to lamb curry recipe to find out what that is) and cook for a about 5 mins - stirring occasionally.

while it is being cooked - get the diced paneer, heat a frying pan at medium high and spray oil in it. also spray oil on the paneer cubes. put the paneer on the heated pan and fry for 2 minutes tossing and turning in between. the idea is to get a nice light brown color to the paneer.

add this paneer to the spinach-onion-tomato mix that has been cooked for 5 mins now (heat is still at 4:00) and cook for another 3 mins. empty in a serving dish. whisk 2-3 tablespoons of thickened cream in a small bowl and swirl around on top of the dish. serve with rice/ naan/ roti/ bread.

p.s. it's a good dish to have on the table with a second meat based dish. complements the other dish (like lamb curry) nicely. bon appetite! peace.