Palak Paneer/Saag Paneer/Spinach Paneer

Palak Paneer/Saag Paneer/Spinach Paneer

This is basically soft paneer or cottage cheese cubes cooked in a smooth spinach curry. It's super easy to make and also very healthy. Sometimes, I also use tofu or mixed veggies and beans instead of the cheese. 

This recipe has been a long time coming; I promised MC and ST this recipe months ago!
Here you go, ladies!

Ingredients

- for the spinach puree:

• 1-2 bunches spinach OR one 32 oz box of baby spinach (I havent tried this recipe with frozen spinach)
• 1 or 2 (or more if you're daring or need more heat in your food) green chilies or any kind of chili peppers, roughly chopped
• 3-4 pods of garlic, roughly chopped (optional)
• 1 inch ginger, roughly chopped
• Water for blanching spinach
• Ice and water for ice bath

- for the base curry; all in order of appearance

• OIl - 1-2 tbs. You can use any oil you like
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Bay leaf - 1 leaf
• Cloves - 4-5
• Cardamom - 4-5
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stickNote: These are basically most of the ingredients of garam masala, so if you have them, use them WITH the garam masala. If you don't have any of these spices, then use just the garam masala, but add it with the turmeric and chilli powder.
• Onion - 1 large or two medium sized, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 large or two medium sized, finely chopped
• Garlic - 4-5 pods (I use a whole bulb, so you can add this to your taste), finely choppedNote: You can also roughly cube these if you're going to puree the base curry too
• Garam Masala - 1-2 tsp. Note: If you don't have any raw spices, then double this amount.
• Turmeric powder - Half tsp
• Red chili powder - One tsp (optional; you can add more if you like spicy food)

Other ingredients:

• Tofu/paneer/veggies and beans - 1 lb
  Note: The paneer or tofu cubes can also be lightly fried/pan fried and then added to the curry; you don't need to cook the fried paneer or tofu in the gravy because it will already be cooked. But if you're going for healthy, or if you just like the tofu/cheese slightly squishy and springy, then add it to the curry to cook.  
• Cream/yogurt/sour cream - 1-2 tbsp  (optional) 
• Oil/Ghee (clarified butter)/Unsalted butter - 2 tbs 
• Kasuri methi/dry fenugreek leaves - 1 tsp (optional) 

Here's how you make it:

Spinach puree:

• Rinse the spinach leaves well. Remove any stringy stems.
• Boil water in deep pot and add some salt to it.
• Once the water had come to a rolling boil, add the spinach leaves. Close the lid and let the leaves sit in the water for 2-5 minutes
• Strain the leaves and immediately put them in an ice bath (10 cubes of ice in a bowl of water). Note: Shocking the spinach stops it from cooking further and also preserves the green colour of the spinach. 
• Strain the water and add the spinach to a blender with chopped ginger, garlic and green chilies.
• Make a smooth puree. Note: Don't add water while making the puree. 

Making the base curry:

• Heat oil/ghee/unsalted butter in a pan.
• Add the cumin, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and bay leaf till the cumin splutters. 
• Add the finely chopped/cubed onions and garlic, and sauté till the onions caramelize.
• Then add finely chopped/cubed tomatoes and sauté till they soften and you see the cooking fat along the sides of the pan. 
• Now add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala, and stir.Note: At this point, you will have to blend the base curry if you haven't finely chopped the onions, garlic, or tomato.
• Fold in the spinach puree and add more water if you want more gravy.
• Simmer for 6-7 minutes or more till the spinach is cooked. Add the cubed paneer/tofu/veggies if they haven't been fried.
• If the paneer/tofu/veggies have been fried, then add them now, after the base curry and spinach puree have simmered together. Reduce the flame to low for 1-2 minutes.
• Lastly, switch off the flame and add cream/yogurt/sour cream, and the kasuri methi/fenugreek leaves. Stir gently so that the cream gets incorporated in the gravy uniformly. 

Serve this hot with some rotis, naan or rice. You can also top the dish with some lemon juice, butter or cream while serving. I like the lemon because it brings out the flavour of the spinach and also cuts the fat a little.

Potato Fry

My mother and husband make the most awesome potato fry that I was never able to replicate. I then figured out my own recipe that is super easy to make and sometimes, tastes better! LOL. This potato fry is great with rasam rice, kootu, sambar rice and if you squeeze a little lime on it, the best beer food EVER. So here is how we do:

Note: If you're new to cooking in the US, you'll find a lot of potato varieties: yukon gold, russet potatoes, red potatoes, etc. If you're looking at trying desi (Indian) recipes, russet potatoes work best in my opinion. For more spud-related trivia, check out Alton Brown's potato fundas. This is an awesome way to 'get rid of old potato stock.'

1. Pressure cook four giant (yeah, they look mutant compared to desi potatoes, so I call them mutant thanks to my frame of reference) potatoes in a pressure cooker with the peel on.
2. Peel potatoes and cut them into 1" x 1" cubes.
3. In a cast iron skillet (or your usual kadai), start your tadka (garnish): 2 tbsp oil (canola, vegetable, sunflower, or sesame seed), 1 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds), 3 dried red chilles (dried red peppers of any kind), a spring of (5-6 leaves) curry leaves (you can skip this if its not in your pantry) and 1 tsp asofoetida (hing to desis; this reduces your chance of being a biological weapon at work and giving new meaning to f-bombs).
Note: The mustard seeds will start spluttering in a while, so be careful if you're not a fan of hot, vicious, biodegradable things out to get you.
4. Optional: Cut onions in half and slice them thin. Add them to the skillet once the mustard seeds have spluttered. If you're new to cooking, then this will help you in the step 6.
5. Put the cubed potatoes in the skillet and mix.
6. Add salt (to your taste), chilli powder (paprika will also do; according to your taste) and 1 tsp turmeric to the potatoes and mix them really well and be careful not to mash the boiled potatoes in the process.
Note: You may want to add a little more heat (paprika/black pepper/chilli powder) and cut up a few chillies (serrano peppers) very fine if you're making this beer food. Tip: I use a baking sheet in step 7 and toss things around on the sheet instead of the skillet because I make this in large quantities and my skillet is not enough for all the potatoes. When I use the baking sheet, I line it with aluminium foil so it is easy to clean and also gives the potato a nice roasted look.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 F and cook the potatoes for 35-45 mins or till it gets as crisp as you want it to be.
Note: Avoid opening and closing the oven since you will increase cooking time further by letting the heat escape (trust me, you will be tempted, but DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN till 30 minutes have passed).
8. Spray the potatoes with a cooking oil/butter spray for it to look oily and unhealthy (its not, but only you know that and everyone will think you slaved over the stove all day!). If you don't have a spray, then just drizzle a little oil over the potatoes.
9. Serve with hot rasam rice! If you made it for beer food, then squeeze a little lime/lemon over it, and garnish with raw onions and coriander (cilantro).