Palak Paneer / Palak Tofu made with fresh spinach leaves and simple masala
is a great side dish with some phulkas, rotis, and rice.
This is the third recipe for which I am updating my pictures. It's always a pleasure to revisit posts from almost six years ago. We had a huge vegetable patch in our backyard, and I had cooked this particular dish from the freshly harvested spinach from our backyard.
This time, when I redid the recipe, I did not have the privilege to use home-grown spinach. Last week, we had been to the Vietnamese stores in Oklahoma City, and I could not resist the fresh bunches of spinach in the store. I bought a couple of bunches and made Palak Paneer for dinner.
I use either paneer or tofu when making Palak paneer. My boys like both paneer and tofu, and hence I use whatever I have in the refrigerator. This time, I had paneer in hand and hence used it to make the subzi.
I treat both the paneer and tofu the same way and briefly pan-fry them to give a little color. If using tofu, make sure to weigh it down for some time and remove the excess moisture before pan-frying.
I am still leaving the fresh spinach picture from my last post, as I don't want to miss that memory. The rest of the pictures are updated, as I did not have any step-by-step cooking pictures.
Ingredients to make Palak Paneer / Palak Tofu - (serves 6-8)
- Palak (spinach) – 6 cups
- Paneer (tofu) – 200 Gms
- Onion – 2 medium (chopped)
- Tomatoes – 2 (chopped)
- Dhania powder – 1 tsp
- Jeera powder – ½ tsp
- Red chilli powder – 1 ½ tsp
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
- Cashew nuts – 10
- Poppy seeds – 2 teaspoon (optional)
- Curd (Yogurt) – ½ cup whipped
- Garam masala powder – 1 tsp
- Sugar – 1tsp
- Salt to taste
- Butter – 1 tblsp
- Oil – as needed
Procedure to make Palak Paneer
- Wash the palak and chop it coarsely. Heat some butter and fry the palak until it shrinks. Allow it to cool and then grind it into a smooth paste.
- Soak cashews and poppy seeds for 10 minutes and grind them into a smooth paste.
- Cut paneer (Tofu) into small cubes and shallow fry it in a little oil/butter until it's light brown and transfer it to a bowl with warm water. The water keeps the paneer soft.
- Heat the rest of the butter/oil in the same pan and fry the onions until golden brown. Now add the dhania powder, jeera powder, chilli powder, and the garam masala powder.
- Stir for a couple of minutes and then add the whipped curd. Cook on reduced flame until the oil floats on top.
- Now add the tomatoes and mix well. Cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add salt, sugar, ground palak leaves, turmeric powder, and cook fora few minutes.
- Now add the cashew paste, and add just enough water to bring the gravy to the required consistency. Cook on medium heat until the gravy is thick. Now add the fried paneer (tofu) and let it come to a boil once.
- Sprinkle the rest of the garam masala powder and serve hot with parathas or rotis.
Expert Tips
- Fresh spinach leaves as well as frozen spinach leaves can be used to make this spinach curry.
- Paneer or tofu works great for this, and I use both very often.
- I prefer lightly frying the paneer or tofu pieces before adding them to the spinach gravy.
- Air fryer works great for frying the tofu or paneer cubes, and I use it these days to fry instead of pan frying.
Similar Recipes
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Recipe
Palak Paneer / Palak Tofu
Equipment
- Blender
- hand blender
Ingredients
- 6 cups Palak / spinach fresh
- 200 gms Paneer / tofu
- 2 medium Onion chopped
- 2 Tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon Dhania powder / coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon Jeera powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Red chilli powder can be adjusted based on spice level
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 10 Cashew nuts
- 2 teaspoon Poppy seeds optional
- ½ cup Curd / yogurt Whipped
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala powder
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- to taste Salt
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon Oil
Instructions
- Wash the palak and chop it coarsely. Heat some butter and fry the palak until it shrinks. Allow it cool and then grind it into a smooth paste.
- Soak cashews and poppy seeds for 10 mins and grind it into a smooth paste.
- Cut paneer (Tofu) into small cubes and shallow fry it in little oil/butter until its light brown and transfer it to a bowl with warm water. The water keeps the paneer soft.
- Heat the rest of the butter / oil in the same pan and fry the onions until golden brown. Now add the dhania powder, jeera powder, chilli powder and the garam masala powder.
- Stir for couple of minute and then add the whipped curd. Cook in reduced flame until the oil floats on top.
- Now add the tomatoes and mix well. Cook until the tomatoes are soft.
- Add salt, sugar, ground palak leaves, turmeric powder and cook for few minutes.
- Now add the cashew poppy paste and add just enough water to bring the gravy to the required consistency. Cook in medium heat until the gravy is thick. Now add the fried paneer (tofu) and let it come to a boil once.
- Sprinkle the rest of the garam masala powder and serve hot with parathas or rotis.
Notes
- Fresh spinach leaves as well as frozen spinach leaves can be used to make this spinach curry.
- Paneer or tofu works great for this and I use both very often.
- I prefer lightly frying the paneer or tofu pieces before adding it to the spinach gravy.
- Air fryer works great for frying the tofu or paneer cubes and I use it these days to fry instead of pan frying.
Riley says
My first time trying out cooking Indian cuisine, and it came out quite well. Love the specific instruction and all the pictures. Will have to keep trying your recipes, thank you!!
Varada says
I love the vibrant creamy color of the spinach. Addition of tofu is a nice variation from paneer.
Jayashree says
This is one of those mild, yet flavorful dishes that I love.
Priya Srinivasan says
Looks delicious sandhya! would love to have a bowl as such! Warm and comforting!
Sarvesh Ramakrishnan says
Looks Amazing and Tastes good
Chef Mireille says
one of my fave Indian veg recipes but not tofu version - love paneer but HATE tofu
Priya Suresh says
I can have this ultimate palak paneer/tofu with some rotis without any fuss, my all time favourite dish.
Sowmya says
Nice twist to Palak paneer...looks delicious!
Sapana Behl says
I too love making this with paneer and tofu, the new pics looks great.
harini says
I agree with pavani that this is one of few recipes where tofu and paneer can interchangeably used.
Pavani says
This is one of those tofu dishes that tastes just as good as the one with paneer. Healthy and delicious.
Sushma Pinjala says
One of my favorite dish......