Palak Paneer is a wonderful curry recipe made with simmering chunks of Paneer in a rich and thick Palak (spinach) based gravy. Palak Paneer recipe is one of the top recipe from Punjabi cuisine.
The flavors are so exotic that usually it is made during festivities or parties and often served with a garnish of fresh cream or butter to enhance the richness and paired with phulkas, naan and rice. This is undoubtedly one of the classic and nutritious recipe with 2 super healthy foods - Paneer, which is rich in calcium and Spinach or Palak which is a great source of fiber and vitamin A.
It is truely up to one’s choice wheteher to shallow fry paneer before adding it to the gravy or not. When I prefer a low caloire version, then I skip frying paneer, however this curry tastes wonderful both the ways.
A Note -
While making Palak Paneer I have seen that most people ‘Boil’ spinach leaves, which is wrong since it discards all the vital vaitamins, minerals and also spolis the color making it look pale green. The correct way to cook spinach is ‘Blanching’ which is basically simmering the leaves in hot water for about half a minute or so and immediately putting it in ice cold water to stop further cooking while retaining the nutrients and the fresh green color too. To know more about Blanching do read our article Blanching - Techniques & Directions where we have given a detailed description about this amazing cooking technique and also the approximate time needed to blanch different vegetables. For a healthy cooking, this article is definetely going to help you out!
We have also shared some amazing recipes with Spinach that you would love to try if you like this healthy green vegetable. Do refer -
Rajasthani Palak Pakodi Kadhi
Gujarati Palak Thepla
Palak Tamatar Sabzi
Cheery Tomato & Baby Spinach Salad
Multigrain Palak Cheela
Palak Makai Sabzi