Palak paneer is one of the popular paneer dishes prepared in Northern part of India. It goes well with rotis, naan and even jeera rice. Usually palak paneer is prepared with cubed paneer and spinach. In this recipe i tried to shred the paneer instead of keeping them in cube form. I learned this shredded paneer idea from one of our friends. You can also refer other paneer recipes in this blog like Mattar paneer, Paneer vegetable kurma, Kadai paneer, Shahi paneer, Paneer bhurji, Paneer jalfrezi and Paneer pulao.

Ingredients:

For making Palak puree:

• 1 bunch - Fresh spinach / palak / pasalai keerai
• 2 clove - Garlic
• 1/4 inch - Ginger
• 1 or 2 nos - Green chillies
• 1 pinch - Salt
• Oil for sautéing

For making Palak paneer:

• 1 cup - Paneer grated / shredded
• 1/4 cup - Milk (room temperature)
• 1 no - Onion (chopped finely)
• 1 no - Tomato (pureed)
• 1/4 tsp - Turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp - Red chilli powder
• 1 tsp - Coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp - Garam masala powder
• Salt as needed

Seasonings:

• 1 tbsp - Oil
• 1 no - Bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1 pinch - Asafoetida

Preparation method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, saute spinach / palak along with pinch of salt until spinach shrink in its size. Allow them to cool completely and grind them to puree along with green chillies, garlic and ginger. Set it aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, season with items given in the list of seasoning. Add chopped onion and saute until they are golden brown in color. Followed by tomato pureed, saute for few minutes.
3. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder, saute until raw smell goes.
4. Now add spinach / palak puree and mix well with masala. Add 2 cups of water along with required salt, bring it to boil and cook for 5 to 10 mins.
5. Add milk and cook for few more minutes. Finally add grated paneer and cook until gravy gets thick and paneer is well cooked. Palak paneer is ready and serve with hot roti.

Notes:

• Red chilli powder is completely optional. You can use green chillies alone for spiciness.
• Usually paneer is cubed in this curry but for a change i grated it. Kids will love this way and they can't separate paneer and palak.
• Instead of milk, you can use 1 or 2 tbsp of cream in this recipe.
• If you are using paneer cubes, then slightly fry it and then add it to the curry.