Before marrying Thomas, I had never tried Indian food. Or honestly even Thai and Vietnamese which are all staple in our lives now. It took me some trial and error to figure out what dishes I liked at the restaurant and I ALWAYS came back to this one. Thomas gets it every time and I’d usually end up being jealous of his meal even though mine was still super good. Long story short, this has become my FAVORITE Indian dish. Thomas figured out how to make it at home & it’s our fourth time making it in about 4 weeks. I honestly crave it, and I personally think his recipe is better than takeout! Plus, it saves us money and T even loves it too! Win win!
Ingredients:
-2 16oz boxes fresh spinach (I used this, but if you can’t find the boxes just make sure you have 32oz FRESH spinach, frozen will be too watery!)
-1 cup petite canned diced tomatoes
-1/3 cup canned coconut milk
-1 yellow onion, diced
-2 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled & sliced into thin strips
-1.5 tbsp garlic, chopped
-2 tsp sea salt
-1.5 tsp curry powder
-1 tsp black pepper
-1 tsp cumin
-1 tsp cumin seeds
-1 tsp garam masala
-1 tsp turmeric
-1 tsp red pepper flakes
-8 oz paneer cheese, cubed
Directions:
To start, prepare all your ingredients. Heat a large stockpot, and once heated, add in olive oil, 1 bay leaf, and 1 tsp cumin seeds. Toast the cumin seeds for about 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add in diced onion and stir until cooks down for a few minutes. Then, add in ginger and garlic and stir. Let cook down for about 4-5 minutes. Next, add in the remaining spices including the salt and pepper. Then add in diced tomatoes and coconut milk and stir for a few minutes. Let everything marinate together. Lastly, add in the spinach and stir until it’s all cooked down. You can chop the spinach before to help it blend better and cook faster.
Using an immersion blender or blender, blend until all the spinach is pureed. It’s okay if there are still some pieces of spinach not perfectly blended. It can be a little chunky. Then add in the paneer cheese and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Preferred is to let it sit for 2-3 hours on the stovetop off the heat before eating. It always tastes better when it sits for a little and the ingredients are able to marinate together.
Serve over basmati rice with a side of warmed naan & enjoy!
*Notes: It seems like a complicated recipe, but truly it’s very easy and delicious. I realize that if you don’t have all the spices, it can get pricey. You can always just buy a little of each spice in bulk for a cheaper way to buy them. Once you make it once, you’ll want to make it again, trust me! So it’ll be good to have some extra spice laying around!
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Does this freeze well?
Hi! I’m not 100% sure, I haven’t tried but I don’t see why it wouldn’t! I would freeze it without the rice and naan and see how it does! Hope you enjoy it if you make it 🙂
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Hi there, when I let it sit for the 2-3 hours you recommend do I turn off the heat or keep it on simmer? Thanks!
Hi Randi! You can turn the heat off! I will update that in the recipe, thank you so much!
Hello! When you say boxes of spinach do you mean frozen? The recipe says fresh so I am confused on that aspect.
Hi!! No, I mean fresh! Frozen will make the dish too watery. We typically buy 16oz plastic boxes (Whole Foods, Kroger, etc) but if you can’t find that then just make sure you have 32oz of fresh spinach total!
I’ve always wanted to make palak paneer, but have been intimidated! Then I found this one. This recipe is so approachable, comes together so easily, and is so delicious and full of amazing flavors. I will be making this on repeat!!!
Yay, what a wonderful review! Thank you for letting us know! It’s one of our absolute favorites as well 🙂
So excited to try this tonight!
Yay, I hope you loved it!!! We’re making it tomorrow 🙂
Wow! I only had time to let it simmer for like 45 min, and it was still so delicious.
How many portions would it make with 2 boxes of spinach?? 4? I used 1 box of spinach and half an onion. But will do the full recipe next time 🙂
Also just a note – I should’ve been wearing an apron or clothes I don’t care about when I turned on the immersion blender 😬 Turmeric stains! But so worth it, I’ll definitely make this again.
Hi Felicia! I am so glad to hear you loved it!! So it’s hard to tell because my husband can eat a lot haha, but I’d say it makes 3-4 servings! Good to note on the turmeric! 🙂 Sorry about that!
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