hitchhiker's Palak Paneer
General guidelines:
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1. Mise en place. Srsly. Get everything assembled before you turn the fire on.
2. Cooking is way more forgiving than baking of quantity variations, so don't stress about getting everything exact.
3. A deep sided frying pan works best, I've found
4. Technically, you're supposed to pass the spinach through a blender, but I've done it using fine chopped frozen spinach and it's come out fine
Quantities:
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I'm following the recipe that sounded closest to the one I usually make (I do it by feel, which is horrible for trying to tell other people quantities):
15 oz Paneer (substitute ricotta)
10 oz Spinach, frozen chopped
1/4 lg Onion; finely chopped
1/4 c Sour cream (you could use yoghurt instead)
1" Ginger, fresh
1 Garlic clove
1 ts Cumin powder
1/2 ts Coriander powder
1/2 ts Turmeric powder
1/2 ts Chili powder
1/8 c Oil
Salt; to taste
Preparation
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1. Grate the ginger
2. Chop the onion finely
3. Put the garlic through the press
4. Thaw the spinach, give it a few seconds in a blender if you have one otherwise just chop it up finely
5. Measure out the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili powder into a small bowl or something (it's easier than frantically measuring out half-teaspoons into a sputtering pan)
6. Cut the paneer into cubes
7. Have a slotted spoon handy - you'll need this for the first bit
Cooking:
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1. Heat the oil in the pan. When it is hot, add the paneer and brown it lightly
2. Remove the paneer (see? told you you'd need the slotted spoon) to a holding container, sprinkle lightly with salt
3. Toss in the onion, garlic and ginger. Fry till the onions turn a translucent golden brown. Marvel at how good your kitchen smells
4. Add the spice powder mix to the onions. Turn heat down a bit, fry for 30-45 seconds, stirring continuously (basically don't let the spices stick to the pan and burn)
5. Add the sour cream and spinach, mix everything up thoroughly, fry stirring continuously for another 30s or so
6. Add the paneer, 1/2 cup of water and salt to taste
7. Cover and let simmer on low heat for 15 mins