Saag Paneer

Photo: flickr user stu_spivack

Ingredients

250 gm paneer

500 gm frozen spinach

2 green finger chillies

Juice of half a lemon

2 teaspoons coriander powder

2 teaspoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon chilli powder

teaspoon Half turmeric powder

teaspoon Half garam masala

1 medium onion, chopped fine

4 inches garlic cloves and 1 ginger, pureed

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

Preparation

Cut the paneer into even, two-centimetre by one-centimetre cubes. Marinate them in the turmeric powder, half the chilli powder and half a teaspoon of salt.

In the meantime, microwave cook the frozen spinach for five minutes until thoroughly defrosted. Add in the green chillies and puree it to a smooth paste with a hand blender.

Now heat the oil in a thick bottomed frying pan over a high flame. When it is hot, fry the paneer pieces until pale brown on two opposite sides. Remove from the oil, draining them carefully.

Now add the onion, garlic and ginger into the same oil and fry until they are a pale toffee brown.

Then add all the spice powders, apart from the garam masala. Stir vigorously for about 10 minutes on a high heat until the pungent, individual smell of the masalas changes to a more blended aroma.

Now mix in the pureed spinach evenly, adding salt to taste. Lower the flame to a gentle simmer and let the spices work their magic through the spinach for five minutes.

Finally stir in the garam masala, the paneer cubes and the lemon juice. Let the ingredients simmer together for another five minutes and serve hot. As a final tip, this tastes much better if it’s left sitting in the fridge for a couple of hours before being reheated.