on Jun 16, 2021 Palak paneer is a house favourite and I’ve been improving my recipe for years. I’m talking about a creamy, mildly flavoured herby green gravy that doesn’t have any bitter spinach flavour or is heavy on spices. This is an easy recipe which means that there are no complicated steps, no long list of masalas, no major prep work. And the flavors are so restaurant style that I might almost stop ordering palak paneer outside. This right here is a gem! Every bite will make you close your eyes and want more. Dip some garlic naan or scoop it up with some jeera rice.
Blanching Spinach for Palak Paneer
Most palak paneer recipes on the internet will tell you to blanch spinach in hot water for a minute or two till it wilts and then immediately transfer it to cold water to stop the cooking process. Honestly, we don’t need that. That’s just one extra step which results in two extra things you have to clean. My method here is really unconventional – the spinach is lightly sauteed with onion, garlic and fresh coriander till it wilts. Exactly the same result as blanching without the extra effort.
Base of the Gravy
The base of the gravy comes from onions, garlic, tomatoes and all that spinach of course. What I’ve tried to do here is to retain the beautiful spinach flavour while cutting out the bitterness. Cooking it lightly and blending it with cooked onion and garlic makes an extra creamy gravy.
Secret Ingredient in this recipe
The secret ingredient in my recipe is fresh Coriander. I use some and blend it with spinach. It makes this dish taste herby, fresh and keeps it green without adding any coriander flavour. Nobody will guess!
Extra Garlic Tadka
I’m a big fan of garlic and my favourite way to boost that flavour is to add a spicy garlic tadka in the end. But even I’ll admit, this one time, I liked palak paneer better without the tadka. Its an option in the recipe if you want to go with it, but just taste the palak paneer without it and you’ll be amazed at how good it already is, and how little it needs.
Top Tips to make Restaurant Style Palak Paneer
Is this palak paneer giving you the green, healthy feels yet? If you try this out, I’d love to see your creations on Instagram. Tag your pictures #myfoodstory and I’d be sure to say hi! This post was first published on January 11, 2017 and updated on 16 June, 2021 with significant changes to the recipe to improve the flavours and new images.
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More Yummy Indian Curries:
Dhaba Style Dal FryPalak Paneer Kofta CurryEasy Indian Saag PaneerDhaba Style Chicken CurrySuper Easy Chicken Curry
