Paneer reminds me of high school. I was in boarding school and once a week we had chilli paneer on the menu and after high school I really avoided it. I never really interacted with it again except on the odd occasion I'd go to an Indian restaurant and someone would order it. Then, I had this one friend called Ros (hi Mwendy!!!) who used to love Indian food and she almost always ordered palak paneer when we went out so I was gradually re-introduced to it.
Fast forward to my adulthood and I discovered a local cheese brand called Sirimon who make some lovely cheeses including paneer. I decided to buy it and make wht has turned out to be one my fave vegetarian dishes in the world. Palak paneer. Simply put this is paneer with spinach
Serves 4
500 grams paneer, diced
2 bunches, local spinach, washed and cut
4 whole green chilies
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 thumb of ginger, minced
1 tsp whole fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbs garam masala
Salt to taste
Oil
Take your spinach and chilli, and blend into a rough paste with a little bit of oil and water. Set this mix aside to use later.
Heat some oil in a pan and lightly brown the paneer and then set aside. In the same pan, add your onion, ginger and garlic and soften over a medium heat or until the onion is translucent (if the ginger starts to brown, lower the heat). Next, add the spices and let it cook for 5 minutes.
Add the spinach puree, paneer cubes and half a cup of water and let it simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Take off the heat and serve with a side of naan bread and some chutney.