Delicious spinach saag with handmade paneer, pan fried till golden brown… sooo good!
Don’t be put off by making the paneer, it’s super quick and a far superior flavour. You can add you own flavours to the curds also; turmeric, salt and pepper, fresh herbs… anything! Just add it to the milk as it’s heating up.
INGREDIENTS
Saag:
1 Onion, finely diced
1tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs grated ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 green chilli, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tomatoes, finely diced
600g frozen spinach
1/4 cup thickened cream
1/4 cup yoghurt
Squeeze of lemon to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Paneer:
2 litres full cream milk
1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 lemon, juiced
Salt to taste if desired
Sieve lined with muslin for draining
METHOD
Paneer
Place the milk in a large pot and bring to the boil – watch it though as it can boil over the top and leave an awful mess. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the yoghurt, stirring this gently so as not to break up the curds too much. Add half of the lemon juice and stir again till you are left with the separated curds and whey.
Over a large bowl or saucepan, strain the curds and whey into the strainer lined with muslin*. Rinse the curds under cold water then gather up the sides of the muslin and squeeze out excess moisture.
While still in the muslin, press the curds down on a chopping board or similar, to make a disk and place a weight on top. Leave to drain for and hour or so at a slight till on the side of your sink.
Cut into cubes. Place any leftover paneer in a container filled with water and use within a week.
In a frypan, heat some oil and lightly brown the paneer. Cook as much as you think you will need and then leave aside.
TIP: *Whey can be used in so many ways from fermenting to making cocktails or if that doesn’t appeal to you then feed your acid loving plants. 1:9 ratio (10%) of whey with (90%) water for sensitive plants or 1:1 whey (50%) to water (50%) for hardier acid loving fruit and vegetables.
Saag curry
Heat some oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 2 tsp of dried fenugreek leaves. Cook for 30 seconds.
Add the chopped onion and cook on medium heat till soft, which is about 8 minutes.
Add the grated cloves of garlic and 1 tbs of ginger and cook for 1 minute.
Add the 1 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 green chilli, thinly sliced and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Stir through.
Add the frozen spinach and 2 chopped tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
Stir through 1/4 cup thickened cream and 1/4 cup yoghurt and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Squeeze in some lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the panfried paneer and leave to heat up.
Serve with rice or naan.
- 1 Onion, finely diced
- 1tsp cumin seeds
- 2 tsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbs grated ginger
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ green chilli, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tomatoes, finely diced
- 600g frozen spinach
- ¼ cup thickened cream
- ¼ cup yoghurt
- Squeeze of lemon to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 litres full cream milk
- ½ cup yoghurt
- ½ lemon, juiced
- Salt to taste if desired
- Sieve lined with muslin for draining
- Place the milk in a large pot and bring to the boil - watch it though as it can boil over the top and leave an awful mess. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the yoghurt, stirring this gently so as not to break up the curds too much. Add half of the lemon juice and stir again till you are left with the separated curds and whey.
- Over a large bowl or saucepan, strain the curds and whey into the strainer lined with muslin. Rinse the sieve under cold water then gather up the sides of the muslin and squeeze out excess moisture.
- While still in the muslin, press the curds down on a chopping board or similar, to make a disk and place a weight on top. Leave to drain for and hour or so at a slight till on the side of your sink.
- Cut into cubes. Place any leftover paneer in a container filled with water and use within a week.
- In a frypan, heat some oil and lightly brown the paneer. Cook as much as you think you will need and then leave aside.
- TIP: Whey can be used in so many ways from fermenting to making cocktails or if that doesn't appeal to you then feed your acid loving plants. 1:9 ratio (10%) of whey with (90%) water for sensitive plants or 1:1 whey (50%) to water (50%) for hardier acid loving fruit and vegetables.
- Heat some oil in a pan and add 1 tsp of cumin seeds and 2 tsp of dried fenugreek leaves. Cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the chopped onion and cook on medium heat till soft, which is about 8 minutes.
- Add the grated cloves of garlic and 1 tbs of ginger and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the 1 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp turmeric, ½ green chilli, thinly sliced and ½ tsp cayenne pepper. Stir through.
- Add the frozen spinach and 2 chopped tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir through ¼ cup thickened cream and ¼ cup yoghurt and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. Squeeze in some lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the panfried paneer and leave to heat up.
- Serve with rice or naan