“Palak Paneer Kaju Masala” ... tried the ever famous palak paneer, a north Indian delicacy with addition of cashew nuts while grinding and the outcome was a very scrumptious tasty side dish … tastes best served with chapathi or naan or mildly spiced rice … I also added on mackerel (raja/ bangude/ bangda) fries and we had a very tasty tummy satisfying lunch … Yummilicious ….
** Somehow I have hardly juggled with palak recipes, though I did try out some, but then I always forget about paneer and you are sure to find lesser posts on them. We do love paneer, but I always reserved them along with chicken to relish in restaurants. Being a GSB Saraswat Konkani I am not much of a fan of Fish and other dishes available in hotel in the name of Kokan dishes as they differ a lot with addition of garam masala at times. However we love chicken and paneer dishes and always our menu consists of them, the very reason why I guess I just do not prepare them at home.
** We all faced grave situation during pandemic and though over a decade or so my outings to restaurants had been infrequent, it turned out to almost nil in the last 3 years, I even avoided home deliveries and went in for only simple home cooked food. This is when I began to miss these dishes and the cravings to relish them became more so during last six months once the world bounced back to half normalcy. We are almost recovering from the shocking events now, so I just though why not try a few of them at home before I step out to relish them in hotels, after all we have all become cautious.
** This is my own try on this tasty and easy to prepare recipe which I combined after going through various dishes in Google and I am extremely happy I tried, sure to be relished many more times over the years. Now this has made me more inquisitive in trying out more options with paneer and other dishes too which I will soon be sharing with all my lovely friends here, till then give this one a try and enjoy with your family and friends. There are many more wonderful, tasty recipes already shared and will be blogged in near future, so do subscribe my Blog or my Page to not miss out any.
** Here is my own delicious recipe for “Palak Paneer Kaju Masala” … my style, do give it a try, your family is sure to love it …..
** I have used one bunch of palak/ spinach leaves (only) for this recipe, not sure how much it weigh but I had about 6-8 cups of chopped fresh leaves. You can either blanch or cook the leaves, whichever method you normally use. Blanching the leaves retains the beautiful green color while the taste does not differ in any method.
** Again, in this recipe addition of cashew paste brings back a lovely color to dish if it turns out darker in shade when cooked. Just keep in mind not to add much water while cooking as palak contains enough water in itself and hardly takes much time in cooking. I used the method of pressure cooking to one whistle here.
** Chop only leaves to large pieces, wash and add it into pressure cooker with little bit of water if need be and pressure cook on medium heat to one whistle only. Let the pressure fall on its own, then let it cool to room temperature after which add it into mixer grinder and grind to a smooth paste without adding water.
** Soak about ½ to ¾ cup of cashew nuts (kajjubi/ kaju) without skin in ½ to 1 cup of warm milk (doodh) for about 30 minutes. Grind to a smooth paste and keep it aside ready. In a mixer grinder add peeled, chopped 5-7 garlic (losun), ½ inch piece of ginger (alle’/ adrak), 5-6 green chillies (tarni mirsanga/ hari mirchi).
** Add 2 large sized chopped onions (piyavu/ kanda) to the above and grind all to a very fine paste adding just a little bit of water or as is necessary only. Heat 2 tblsp oil (tel/ tela), add ground ginger garlic onion paste, ½ tsp salt (namak/ meeta) and fry on low to medium heat till it is well done, takes about 3-4 minutes.
** Add 1tsp jeera (cumin) powder, fry for few seconds and then add one finely chopped tomato and continue frying all together for another 3-4 minutes sprinkling water if necessary to avoid it being burnt. Add ground palak, mix well and then add water as is necessary and cook on slow stirring often till you see bubbles on top.
** Add in cashew paste and salt to taste (remember we have added earlier), mix well and cook for another 2-3 mins till the curry is done. Lastly add 1 inch sized fresh paneer cubes, say about 12-15 pieces and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove and garnish with coriander leaves (kottambari pallo/ dhania).
** Finally add in a small lemon sized ball of fresh homemade butter (loni) or a tablespoon of ghee (toop) and mix well before serving. Off course its optional, you can do so while serving individually too, especially for children. I have always found addition of loni enhances the taste of the curry and is healthy too.
** “Palak Paneer Kaju Masala” is done and ready to be served. Serve hot immediately once you have added on paneer cubes as resting the curry will turn the paneer harder. Tastes best served with roti/ naan/ panpolo (neer dosa), mildly spiced pulav or ghee rice too, enjoy this delicious dish with family and friends.
** I served this curry with simple chapathi and it was really a delicious combo. I also added on mackerel (bangude/ raja/ bangda) fries and in all it was a wonderful tummy filling meal for us. It is always a joy to receive feedback from friends when the dishes are tried, so do try it out and let me know if your family loved the same.
** For “Mackere (bangude/ raja/ bangda)" Recipe, Please follow the link given below ….
** For “Chapathi/ Roti/ Phulka” Recipe, Please follow the link given below ….
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