Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
- 1/4 cup ghee, recipe follows
- 1/2 pound cubed paneer cheese
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon curry powder, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- Salt
Directions
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in the spinach and blanch for 1 minute until very tender. Dump the spinach into a colander and press firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, set aside.
Heat the ghee in a deep skillet over medium-high flame. Add the cubed paneer and fry for a couple of minutes until light brown on all sides, gently turning to avoid breaking up the cubes. Remove the cheese from the skillet and set aside.
Return the skillet to the heat and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger; cook and stir for about 5 minutes until soft. Sprinkle the mixture with the curry powder; continue to stir to marry the flavors, about 1 minute. Fold in the chopped spinach and give everything a good toss. Shut off the heat and stir the buttermilk and yogurt into the spinach to incorporate. The mixture should be creamy and somewhat thick. Gently fold in the fried paneer cubes, season with salt, to taste, and serve with steamed basmati rice and/or flat bread.
Ghee:
1 pound unsalted butter
Put the butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, swirl the pot around to ensure that it melts slowly and does not sizzle or brown. Increase the heat and bring the butter to a boil. When the surface is covered with foam, stir gently and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting. Gently simmer, uncovered, and undisturbed for 45 minutes, until the milk solids in the bottom of the pan have turned golden brown and the butter on top is transparent. Strain the ghee through a sieve lined with several layers of cheesecloth. The ghee should be perfectly clear and smell nutty; pour into a glass jar and seal tightly.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups
Curry Powder:
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 dried red chiles, broken in pieces, seeds discarded
1 tablespoon turmeric
Toast the whole spices (coriander, cumin, fennel, cloves, mustard, cardamom and peppercorns) and the chiles in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, shaking the pan often to prevent them from burning. Toast for a couple of minutes until the spices smell fragrant. In a clean coffee grinder, grind the toasted spices together to a fine powder. Add the turmeric and give it another quick buzz to combine. Use the spice blend immediately, or store in a sealed jar for as long as 1 month.
Yield: about 1/2 cup












Review This Recipe
You must be logged in to review this recipe.
or Sign Up to Review
Newest Ratings and Reviews
Read all 23 reviews
By jannyjan53
on August 22, 2012
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
This is not a good recipe. It is NOT at all creamy. Keep looking for a better recipe. I wish I had read the other reviews about putting it in a blender!!
By xchikaxchikax
Saugerties, NY
on August 12, 2011
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
After reading the recipe and the reviews, I made this recipe with only a few minor variations. I more than tripled the spices other than chilis and I left the heat on as I added the spinach and for a few minutes after to evaporate a bit of the moisture. Before adding the paneer, I buzzed my emulsion blender a few times in the pot. I served the leftovers to one of my coworkers who is from India and has only been in NY since Aug 1st. He said that it was very similar to the Palak Paneer his mother makes and he asked me how I made it. After telling him the recipe, he said the key is to make sure you sautee the onions and spices until they are well browned and "dry" before adding the spinach which brings out the flavors, makes the color richer and helps thicken the sauce. Otherwise, this is exactly how Palak Paneer is made and Saag Paneer is the same recipe, just using mustard greens instead of spinach. It was good enough that he ate all of the leftovers.
By sarikvaster_129...
Urbana, 52
on July 12, 2010
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
Like several other people have said, this recipe does not make saag paneer. The result doesn't look or taste anything like traditional saag paneer. What came out wasn't exactly horrid, but it was not what I was expecting. If you want reall saag paneer get a different recipe.
Read all 23 reviews