Crunchy palak paneer
Paneer is a fresh cheese, used in vegetarian Indian cooking. It carries flavours very well and the texture is fantastic. Here it’s fried to give it crunch before adding to the richly spiced spinach and tomato sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 5cm/2in fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
- 1 hot red chilli
- 1 tsp salt
- 400g tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú semolina
- 200g/7oz paneer, cut into 2cm/¾in cubes
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 500g/1lb 2oz spinach, washed
- small handful chopped fresh coriander leaves
- squeeze lemon juice
Method
Heat the ghee in a saucepan, add the onions and cook for 3 minutes, or until soft. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, chilli and salt. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute to infuse all the spices. Add the tomatoes and sugar, stir and simmer for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, combine the garam masala and semolina. Mix in the paneer to coat it. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the paneer for a few minutes until crisp and golden on all sides.
Add the spinach to the tomato sauce with 2 tablespoons water, stir and cook until wilted. Fold in the crunchy paneer. Remove the whole chilli.
Serve garnished with the fresh coriander and lemon juice.
