Homemade Saag Paneer

Name: Homemade Saag Paneer
Total time: 3600 s
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 12 ounces paneer (if you're in Atlanta, Patel Plaza on Buford highway is the spot!); 20 ounces (approx.) of fresh spinach (about a bag and a half, or two bushels); 1 white onion, chopped roughly; 1 tomato, chopped roughly; 1 tablespoon ginger, peeled and chopped roughly; 2 tablespoons ground cumin, or 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds (preferred); 3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped roughly; 2-3 tablespoons neutral cooking oil (I use coconut oil, but you can use olive or vegetable); 1 tablespoon ground coriander; 1 tablespoon ground turmeric; 1 tablespoon garam massala; 1 cup plain yogurt (can use Greek yogurt if you prefer); 1 Serano pepper (remove or keep the seeds for desired spice level); Salt to taste; 1 cup white or Basmati rice; 1 cup water; 1 tablespoon salt; 2 bay leaves; 1 tablespoon cumin seeds (optional)

Christie Jones @christieuno

Inspired by my roommate and best friend's lovely mother, Ashu Manoj. She's been teaching me Indian recipes for the last two years (I've been an Indian food groupie for all my life).

Christie Jones @christieuno

Inspired by my roommate and best friend's lovely mother, Ashu Manoj. She's been teaching me Indian recipes for the last two years (I've been an Indian food groupie for all my life).

Saved

Ingredients

1 hour

4 servings

Saag Paneer
12 ouncespaneer (if you're in Atlanta, Patel Plaza on Buford highway is the spot!)
20 ounces(approx.) of fresh spinach (about a bag and a half, or two bushels)
1white onion, chopped roughly
1tomato, chopped roughly
1 tablespoonginger, peeled and chopped roughly
2 tablespoonsground cumin, or 1 tablespoon of cumin seeds (preferred)
3 clovesgarlic, peeled and chopped roughly
2-3 tablespoonsneutral cooking oil (I use coconut oil, but you can use olive or vegetable)
1 tablespoonground coriander
1 tablespoonground turmeric
1 tablespoongaram massala
1 cupplain yogurt (can use Greek yogurt if you prefer)
1Serano pepper (remove or keep the seeds for desired spice level)
Salt to taste
At-home Basmati Rice
1 cupwhite or Basmati rice
1 cupwater
1 tablespoonsalt
2bay leaves
1 tablespooncumin seeds (optional)

Saved

Steps

1 hour

1

Roughly chop your spinach, tomato, Serano pepper and onion.
2

Heat a large pan to medium and add 1-2 tablespoons of neutral oil. Wait for the oil to get hot—an easy way to do this is by adding cumin seeds, which will start to pop and simmer as they heat up.
3

Once the pan and its oil are heated, add your chopped onion, pepper, garlic, ginger, and tomato. Cook until your onion is slightly translucent and the tomato has softened (about 3 minutes).
4

Remove onion and tomato, and place into the bottom of a blender.
5

Now, take your roughly chopped spinach and add it to the pan with a dash of more oil. Add all of your spices: cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala, salt and pepper. Lower the heat slightly from medium and cook the spinach until it is wilted, but still retains green color. Feel free to add the spinach in batches, as the volume will significantly decrease as you cook the spinach.
6

Once the spinach is cooked down, remove from heat and put it inside the blender with the onion, tomato, and pepper.
7

Add about half of a cup of water to the cooked mixture within the blender, then blend until smooth—usually the puree setting works best for this. This should only take a minute or so! Add more water if needed to liquify.
8

While the spinach mixture is inside the blender, wipe down your pan and reheat it to medium. Add a bit of neutral oil and the paneer cubes (these can be added from frozen, but defrosting is preferred)
9

Cook the paneer until it is slightly browned, then remove from heat and save on an additional plate.
10

Once the paneer is cooked and sitting on stand-by, pour the spinach mixture into the heated pan. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir for 1-2 minutes.
11

Add 1 cup of plain yogurt (more or less as desired) and mix into the warm spinach mixture. This should thicken your curry and add creaminess.
12

Add the seared paneer to the mixture. Cook together for another few minutes until the curry thickens, usually about 5 minutes.
13

As the saag thickens, it's time to cook your rice! Rinse 1 cup of rice in a mesh strainer to remove extra starch.
14

If you have a crockpot, now is the time to shine. Add your rinsed rice to a crockpot, along with salt, 2 bay leaves, and a cup of water. Secure the lid, set cooking time to 5 minutes and pressure cook on high.
15

Once your rice is done pressure cooking and the steam has evaporated, fluff and serve with your saag paneer curry.