Palak Paneer

Now that I have learnt to prepare Paneer at home (and am really so glad about it :) ), here’s one of my favourite Paneer dish for RCI Punjabi Cuisine- Palak Paneer. An amazing combination of nutritious Palak and rich Paneer… As a child, I hated Palak.. Palak was just dear when watching "Popeye the sailor man" :D But once I started eating Palak Paneer, I suddenly started finding it good.. Mom used to make this often coz there are very few other leafy vegetables that I eat.. Sometimes wen Paneer was unavailable, she replaced it with boiled aalo(potatoes) to make Aalo Palak.. This is probably the best way to enjoy the iron rich Palak and non- fat cheese.. Enjoy my mom’s recipe of Palak Paneer..

Palak Paneer

Serves:

2-3 ppl

Preparation time:

35-40 mins

What you need:

1 bunch fresh Palak(Spinach)
250 gm Paneer
1 inch Ginger, chopped
2-3 Green Chillies, chopped
2-3 cloves Garlic,chopped
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 medium sized Onion, sliced
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1-2 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
3-4 tbsp Oil
Water

How to proceed:

1) Wash and chop Palak coarsely
2) Heat 1 tbsp Oil in a pan, add ginger, garlic and green chillies
3) Saute for a min and add chopped palak
4) Add ½ cup Water and cook till the Palak turns soft. When done, keep aside
5) Dice the paneer in 1 inch cubes
6) Heat 2 tbsp Oil in another pan and add Paneer cubes to it
7) Shallow fry them for a minute till they turn golden brown.
8) Set them aside and add cumin seeds to remaining oil
9) Now add onion and cook till it turns transparent.
10) Add tomatoes and cook till they turn mushy
11) When done, turn off heat and set it aside
12) Blend both these mixtures (cooked palak, onion tomato) to pastes, mix them and keep aside.
13) Cook this mixture for 5-10 mins and add salt and sugar as required
14) Add fried Paneer cubes and cook covered for another 5 mins
15) Serve hot with rotis or parathas

* The above ingredients make thick Palak Paneer.. Add more water at step (13) if you wish to make the gravy thin.

* Add cream/ butter while serving if you like.

Paneer Lumpia

Hush! Finally an easy letter positioned between two tricky ones. :) Coincidently this week was P week at my place with Pulao, Palak Parathe, Pav Bhaji and Pakode! All being so common, I decided to experiment something new.. thus happened Paneer Lumpia! The name of the dish talks about: Paneer- The yummy Indian cheese, Lumpia- fried Vietnamese and Indonesian pastries! I combined these to make Paneer Lumpia for “P of Indian Vegetables” for Nupur’s A-Z of Indian Vegetables. This is an Indian dish since just the preparation style and looks of Vietnamese Lumpia are used while the remaining important features.. the filling, the covering and the taste are full-to Indian! :)

Paneer Lumpia

What you need:

1/2 cup Maida
Few drops of Lemon(this makes the covering crispy)

1 cup grated Paneer
1/2 cup finely minced Cabbage
1 tsp Ginger Garlic paste
2-3 Green Chillies, minced
2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 tsp Corriander Cumin Powder
Pinch of Turmeric
1 tsp Soya Sauce
1/2 tsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup

Water
Salt to taste
Oil to fry

How to proceed:

1) Take Maida in a bowl, add one tsp oil, 2-3 drops of lemon and 1 tsp salt. Knead into a soft dough and keep aside covered
2) Add vinegar to grated paneer and leave aside for 5 mins.
3) For the filling, mix all the remaining ingredients with grated paneer (except water and oil).
4) Divide the dough into balls of 1 inch diameter; roll each ball into thin circular rotis.
5) Spread the filling across at one end, roll to over to the other end so as to cover it and seal with little water. Fold and seal the sides with water.
6) Fry on both sides and drain excess oil on paper towel.
7) Garnish with grated paneer and serve hot with tomato sauce.

* Serve as is as “Paneer Lumpia” or serve as “Paneer Spring Rolls” by cutting each in 2-3 pieces :)