Saag Paneer
Saag Paneer is a very popular and delicious Indian recipe that is found in nearly every Indian restaurant that I have dined at over the years. I wanted to re-create this recipe at home from scratch, starting with the cheese. The paneer was remarkably easy to make, but it does call for a fair amount of inactive time which requires a bit of planning ahead. The flavors of the dish hit the spot for an Indian craving, and the freshly made paneer does not disappoint.
Ingredient Changes
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Red onion
The recipe calls for 1/2 inch pieces, but 1/4 inch would be a better size.
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Spinach
Any combination of spinach and mizuna that adds up to 8 ounces.
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Sugar
Omitted
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Paneer
9 oz of fresh paneer
Ingredient Conversions
| Ingredient | Old Value | New Value |
|---|---|---|
| Tomatoes | 1 cup | 265g |
| Onion | 3/4 cup | 95g |
Notes
- When making the paneer, make sure to stir the pot of milk occasionally while bringing it to a boil. The milk particles can stick to the bottom of the pan, which is a pain to clean later.
- Allow the milk mixture to drain for 30 minutes instead of 15 minutes. Even after 15 minutes it is still very hot to handle and there is a lot of liquid that needs to continue to drain.
- When making the spinach sauce, cook over a smaller burner to ensure that the garlic/ginger mixture does not burn. I used a cast iron pan and it was too hot while cooking on medium heat over the largest burner.
- While cooking the sauce, I panfried the paneer I used 1 TBSP of grapeseed oil for about a minute on each side in a small cast iron pan over medium heat. After it has cooled, dice into 1 inch chunks to place into the sauce later on.
- For the optional step of milk or cream at the end, I stirred in 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream to make it all the richer.