Palak Panneer - Cottage Cheese in Spinach Sauce

I have not been a big fan of spinach (or any green for that matter) for a long time until I got introduced to Palak Panneer. Every restaurant does this in different way - I like it nice and silky. It does take a few steps and a few ingredients  to make it this way. Every minute is worth the effort though. :) Of course there are various versions of the recipe across the web. I did a mix of ideas from a few and the outcome was quite good. 

Ingredients

1. Palak (Spinach) - preferably not the frozen ones - 500 gms
2. Panneer - I used about 500 gms chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
3. Onions - 2
4. Tomatoes - 1
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 table spoons
6. Ginger juliennes - a few for garnishing
7. Garam masala - 2-3 tablespoons
8. Green chillies - 2-3
9. Cloves - 3-4
10. Cashews - 3-4
11. Black cardamom - 1-2
12. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
13. Cream - 1 tablespoon
14. Butter - 2 tablespoons
15. Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon
16. Amchur powder - 1 teaspoon

The Method

1. Heat a kadai with any vegetable oil of your choice and saute Cashews, Cardamom, Cumin, Chillies, Onions, Tomatoes and Ginger Garlic paste. Saute until the onions and tomatoes turn slightly mushy.
2. Keep this mixture aside from the stove and let it cool down.
3. Blanch the spinach in boiling water until the leaves wilt a little. Be careful not to overcook the spinach.
4. Drain the spinach (save the water) and transfer the spinach into an ice bath (a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes). This apparently stops further cooking of the spinach and maintains its colour.
5. Blend the Onion tomato mixture into a smooth paste.
6. Drain this paste using a metal sieve or filter to get only the smooth paste to filter out the chunky bits.
7. Filter the spinach from the ice bath and blend the spinach into a smooth paste and filter the contents as above.
8. In the same kadai heat used in step 1 melt the butter and add the blended onion tomato paste.
9. Add the garam masala, kasuri methi (crushed up), salt and amchur powder and saute until oil separates.
10. Add the spinach / palak paste and saute for a few minutes until both pastes blend well and it comes to a boil. 
11. Add the spinach water (from step 4) as much as needed for the amount of sauce / gravy needed. Do not add to much to make it too watery. This is meant to be a slightly thick sauce.
12. Add the diced up panneer and leave it to cook for a about 5 minutes.
13. Add a dollop of cream and ginger juliennes as garnish and serve hot with rotis.

Enjoy Palak Panneer!!

C