#smaller batch this week bc i have finals TT

[cupofcolors]

skrunkly batch pt.2

((for FE art scuffle ^^)

[liu-lang]

I made palak paneer (amongst other things, post w/ tiny kitty coming up !) yesterday ! I thought I’d share some photos documenting the process as I find it actually lends itself to a wonderfully flavoured final product. And I have my own method of cooking it. By no means am I a cooking expert. I cook from memory of my childhood, things close to my heart tt make me feel at home. The measurements I’m using are for food for a week for my boyfriend to share w/ his Dad too. I save some for myself as well throughout the week.  It makes quite a large batch by my standards. I also like things spicy so feel free to omit any of the chili I include.

A few more additionally things to address. I prefer to use whole spices when I can. Growing up, your family blended their own spices and rempah then stored it for later use in various dishes. This allowed you to control the flavour you wanted and you could create any blend you wanted. And families developed their own recipes and blends to pass down and share. But I know spices are expensive. To simplify the list of ingredients and reduce the steps, you can use pre-made garam masala spice blend. Essentially you can boil the ingredients down to : spinach, onion / tomato paste, yoghurt, garam masala and paneer. 

Also I have the privilege of time, transport and the existence of Asian grocery stores to get these ingredients. Food is a lot cheaper there but also a lot of it comes w/o packaging and is not pre-prepared. So it does take time, effort and energy to prepare the ingredients even before cooking them. I cook once a week on weekends. I go to the grocery store on Saturday morning and spend pretty much the whole Saturday afternoon cooking. The cooking involves cleaning in between esp. if I’m using the food processor for multiple things. Then there’s the final kitchen clean up. If you guys have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out !

Ingredients for palak puree (spinach puree)

4 bunches of spinach

1 bunch of coriander 

1 bunch of mint

6 bird’s eye chili (you can de-seed if you want to reduce spiciness - I just split it down the middle then I use scissors to snip them into tiny bits straight into the food processor)

Half a garlic bulb (more to taste if you’d like)

2 cm of ginger (I peel the ginger then slice on the thinnest setting on my mandolin then I roughly chop the slices)

Water and ice for the ice bath

Ingredients for the onion / tomato paste

2 to 3 chopped tomatoes (I used roma tomatoes bc they’re cheaper @ the store, any tomatoes would do, you can even use tin tomatoes if tt’s easier for you. Make sure to drain excess liquid from tinned tomatoes. If using fresh tomatoes and you want to ensure the paste is not too watery, you can omit the seeds and more mushy chunks)

1 small to medium onion (I quartered them then sliced the quarters w/ my mandolin then chopped the slices, white or yellow onion is fine)

Ghee or oil or butter to fry tomatoes and onion

150 ml of tomato sauce or paste from a tin

2 tablespoons sambal pedas (this is more spicy stuff so omit if you’d prefer. you can use from a bottle or prepare from scratch which is another recipe for another time. I always had some prepared from scratch growing up from my mum’s side of the family)

1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate 

More garlic cloves sliced thinly if you’d like

1 or 2 bay leaves

½ teaspoon of cumin powder

½ teaspoon fenugreek powder

¼ teaspoon of tumeric powder

¼ teaspoon galangal powder

¼ teaspoon cardamom 

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 to 2 teaspoons of chili powder (I used lal mirch but don’t worry if it’s not available to you)

1 tablespoon caraway seeds 

1 teaspoon black pepper 

50 ml water or broth (you can add more if you’d like to thin it out more)

Ingredients for yoghurt

64 g of whole milk, full fat yoghurt (greek yoghurt is good and seems to be the most accessible. I like to use goat milk yoghurt. not a yoghurt but you can use dahi too)

60 grams cashews (dry roasted or raw)

Zest from 1 lemon

1 tablespoon honey

Some heavy cream if you’d like to thin it out more

Ingredients for paneer

450 g of paneer (cubed)

Ghee or oil or butter to fry paneer in

Paper towel and plate to soak up excess oil

Method

Spinach puree

Rinse the spinach, coriander, mint. Chop off the stems from the bottom. Roughly chop the leaves so they fit in the pot better

Fill up your pot about ½ way w/ water. Bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt if you’d like. 

Add the leaves in stages if you don’t have a big enough pot. The leaves cook down and become smaller. I did everything in 2 batches. Add more water if necessary.

 Cover w/ lid and periodically check on it and smoosh it down more to make space for more leaves. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes or until blanched (not too soggy but not raw either)

Strain the leaves and immediately add them to the ice bath you prepared in a big enough bowl. Let them chill out for a few minutes. A mixing bowl works well. The ice water helps them keep their bright green colour. 

Drain the leaves and put them in a food processor or blender with the chili, garlic and ginger. Process until smooth and well blended. Make sure to scrape the sides. If it’s not blending well enough, add some water but not too much or the end product could be runnier than intended. 

Onion tomato paste

Dry fry the bay leaf and all the spices. Then take the spices and grind them together into a fine powder. (My roommate has a mini coffee grinder thing she uses for whole coffee beans. It works well for spices, just be sure not to put too much in at once which could jam the blades and affect how finely ground your spice mix will be)

In the same pan, heat oil or ghee or butter and fry the chopped tomatoes and sliced onions. Add in the sliced garlic.

Once everything is softened and you see tiny bubbles popping up and the fat is separating (as in the above picture) add the ground spice mix. 

Dump the tomatoes / onion / spices into the food processor. Don’t forget to take out the bay leaf. Add the sambal and tamarind. Add the water / broth to the consistency you’d prefer. Blend everything together. 

Yoghurt

Soak the cashews in small bowl of hot water until soft (usually 30 minutes is good)

Spoon yoghurt into food processor. Add lemon zest, honey and cashews

Blend until the cashews are in tiny bits. Add heavy cream to thin out and blend again. 

Paneer (if you want it to be healthier or you’re scared of oil, you can skip the frying. just cube the paneer to the size you’d like and continue to “putting everything together”. when you buy paneer I think it’s ready to use)

Cube the paneer (some places do big chunks but I like smaller cubes)

Heat the ghee or butter or oil to fry the paneer until lightly browned or golden brown (I love a super crispy exterior and a soft, chewy interior) You can put a lid on the paneer and reduce the heat to let it fry w/o splattering hot oil everywhere. Make sure to move the paneer cubes around so tt one side doesn’t become too burnt. But don’t move them so much tt they don’t brown

Once it’s fried to your preferences, the paneer will be super hot so carefully remove it onto a plate w/ a paper towel. (I used a slotted spoon thing to scoop them out in batches. You can also dump it into a strainer but hot oil is scary)

Putting everything together 

In a big enough pan start by adding spinach puree. Push it around until it’s heated up

Then add in the tomato / onion paste. Cook together for about 5 to 7 minutes on low to medium heat.

Lower the heat and add the cashew yoghurt mixture (you don’t want it to be too hot, risking the dairy curdling, also add in small amounts, don’t dump the whole thing in. I think I did it in 2 steps here). Depending how much yoghurt you’re adding, the colour will change. 

Slowly stir until fully blended on low heat

Add in the paneer cubes

Stir together a final time and enjoy !