Recipe for quick and easy, healthier option for popular Indian takeaway Saag Paneer. This is a vegetarian, gluten-free and vegan friendly dish. An ultimate comfort food that is nourishing with the warming spices and ghee.
Fill a deep stock pot with boiling water and add in the washed clean English spinach leaves. Blanch for a couple of minutes
Add in the blanched spinach leaves in a blender to make a puree. Keep aside as we prepare the tempering in the next steps
In a mortar and pestle smash the garlic cloves, ginger , coriander seeds and green chilies together
In a large stainless steel frying pan warm the ghee for a few minutes. Then add in and saute the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and chopped onions in that order. Sprinkle some salt on top and continue to saute for 3-4 minutes until the onions turn translucent. Then add in the smashed ginger-garlic-chili mix from the above step and continue sauteing
Next add in the whole spices i.e. bay leaves, cloves, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and continue to saute for 1-2 minutes until the lovely aroma of the spices begin to circulate all around you Then add in the chopped tomatoes, kasoori methi , turmeric powder and remaining sea salt. Continue stirring for 4-5 minutes (or more) until a mashed spices-tomato chunky sauce is formed. Sprinkle some water in in the pan in case the mixture starts drying and sticking to the pan
Once a chunky blend of the spices, onions, tomatoes, ginger-garlic is formed , mix in the pureed and blanched spinach. Stir thoroughly until the spinach is nicely coated with all the spice sauce mix
Add in the cubes of the fresh paneer in the final step. Let the pan simmer for few minutes before serving it.
Notes
Make it Vegan : The cottage cheese (paneer) and ghee are the only dairy products in this recipe. To make this vegan, omit the paneer for firm tofu or cubes of potatoes that have been pan fried. In place of ghee, use virgin cold pressed coconut oil or a neutral oil like peanut oil
On Kasoori Methi : The sun dried fenugreek leaves go a long way in this dish. They really lift the flavours and help to give those aromas and flavours of a top restaurant quality dish. You should be able to find it in any Indian or south asian grocery store outside India, so try to put in the effort to source it if making this dish.