Melt-In-Your-Mouth Palak Paneer

It feels good to be back after a long break! Things have been really tough in the past months... Health Problems, Work Pressure etc etc. But with the help of our loved ones we were able to get back on track and resume. But it is very amazing to realise how swiftly tides change!

Never mind! Life would be very bland without these I guess!

This dish was made with lots of love by R. My contribution in this was just clicking photos and gobbling it with rotis afterwards... But this was the tastiest palak paneer I HAVE EVER HAD!!!! I am not joking and I am not saying just because it was made by my darling husband! It was really really yummy!

There is something more to this dish. The spinach used in this was the Indian Spinach and not the baby spinach leaves that are meant for salad. I have made the same with the baby spinach leaves and they were not great tasting. Same goes with Paneer - I have seen that the paneer that we bought that were already cubed were not as soft as the ones in blocks. :) Dont know if this is true or if everyone else has also found this!

I know the photos are not very good... thats because we hardly had any patience particularly with the aroma that filled our home and could not resist to stop everything and start eating.. the best part of this was that my toddler son enjoyed 2 whole cubes of paneer with his roti! (that's a BIG achievement for me!!!)

Stories apart! this is how R made it!

Ingredients:

Palak (Spinach) - 2 big bunches, washed, and chopped finely
Onions - 1 big, chopped
Tomatoes - 2, chopped
Paneer - 200 grams
Green chillies - 4 (to taste)
Ginger, garlic - as usual
Panch Phoron - This is a spice mix with 5 different varieties of seeds but if you cant get it you can use the normal cumin seeds for seasoning.
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

Method:

• Heat cooking oil in a deep vessel and once hot add panch phoron.
• Add the chopped onions, chillies, ginger and garlic and cook until the onions are cooked through.
• Add the chopped tomatoes.
• Make a loose paste by adding the turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala with water and add it to the pan.
• When the tomatoes are cooked and mushy, add the spinach into the pan and let it wilt.
• Once the spinach has wilted let it cook nicely as it gives out water.
• the water from the spinach and from the tomatoes should be enough for the whole dish to get a good consistency.
• When the spinach looks half done (after about 15 minutes of cooking) dice the paneer into cubes and add it straight into the spinach. (Some people have a different style in that they fry the paneer pieces before adding it - We prefer it just plain)
• Reduce the heat and cook the whole thing for about 20 minutes more or so. Let the paneer absorb all the taste and the spices in the mix.
• Remove from heat and enjoy with rotis or jeera rice. (or just like that - like I did)

 Hmmmmm!!!! HEAVEN!!!!!! The paneer was so soft and creamy and it literally melted in the mouth.