Zero Oil Palak Paneer | Cottage cube chunks in spinach gravy

Paneer is often a
very favoured ingredient in my pantry, thanks to my daughter loving it
immensely. Blogging Marathon with the challenge of "Zero Oil Cooking"
brought out this popular dish in a zero oil avatar. We found absolutely no
difference in the taste, and in fact loved it more thus. Traditionally paneer
is shallow or deep fried and added to the simmering spinach gravy. But I just
tossed the cubes on a dry pan (you need to keep flipping them from time to
time) and also dry roasted the blanched tomatoes for the gravy. 

I experimented with a mixture of baby spinach and normal spinach
for this and used a handful of peas, and the dish was totally filling with Chapatis and some salad. With
the winters upon us, am sure more greens and fresh veggies along with crunch
salads would appear at our dinner table. Now, lets get to the recipe.

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Click here for Printable Recipe

Prep time : 20 mins | Cook time : 15 mins | Serves : 4

Difficulty Level : Medium

Serving suggestions : Kalonji Naan / Butter Kulcha / Phulka or any Indian
bread.

Ingredients:

• Baby Spinach - ½ cup (packed loose)
• Normal Spinach - 1.25 cup (packed tight)
• Panner / Cottage Cheese - 200 gms - cubed
• Fresh or frozen peas - 2 handfuls
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric - ¼ tsp
• Dry masala (Each 1 tsp) : Amchur (Dry mango powder), Garam Masala, Red
  Chilli powder, Kitchen King, Jeera Powder, Coriander powder

Gravy:

• Onions - 2 medium
• Tomatoes - 2 large
• Cashewnuts - 5 to 6
• Garlic - 2 pods
• Ginger - ½ inch
• Shahjeera - ¼ tsp

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Method:

Clean and blanch spinach leaves for 3 mins in boiling water.
Remove to a dish with ice cold water. Let it remain there for 5 mins. Drain.

Similarly blanch and peel the tomatoes & peas. Roughly chop tomatoes into medium chunks

Soak cashews in warm water for 5 mins

In a dry pan, saute onions, garlic and ginger till the onions turn
pinkish brown (about 5 mins). Ensure you do this on a medium-low flame. Cool.
Grind the sauteed onions, garlic, ginger with the cashew, tomatoes and
shahjeera to a fine paste.

In a non stickpan, toss the paneer cubes till they slightly brown
on the sides, about 4 - 6 mins.

Again heat a non stick pan, add the gravy, salt, dry masala
powders and let it simmer till the raw smell disappears. Gently slide in the
sauteed paneer cubes, check for salt. Let the gravy simmer for further 2 - 3
mins.

Serve hot with Rotis / Naan or Kulcha for a complete protein rich
experience. 

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Linking it to Blogging Marathon # 23 under "Zero Oil Cooking". Check out other Marathoners here. Also linking to Cook n Bake Spinach by UK Rasoi & Quick n Easy Recipes by Ammaji