Succulent, Creamy, Palak Paneer

                                                             Palak Paneer Or Spinach with Cottage Cheese

                                     Adding more of tomatoes would give your palak paneer a little reddish look

Everybody loves this dish, it can be had as a side dish with Rice, Pulav and Chapatti (the Indian bread).
It is also very easy to make and does not take much time too.
Different people make this in different ways, and this is the way, I like to make: 

Ingredients required for making Palak Paneer
1. 2 small bunches of Palak/ spinach
2. very few leaves  of fresh fenugreek or 1 tsp of dry fenugreek ( kasuri methi), or if don't have any of them them add 1/2 tsp of  dry roasted ground methi (fenugreek) seeds.
3.Tomatoes about 2 small ones
4. Ginger about 1/2 an inch
5. fresh cloves of garlic about 4-5 
6. green chilies 1 or according to your taste
7.3-4 cashews
8. oil about 2 -4 tsps ( don't add too much of oil)
9. Paneer, about  350- 450 gms.
10. Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
11. Garam masala powder about 2 1/2 tsp
12. Milk if required (optionl)
13. 1 small onion
14. 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste
Since we are adding cashews, for creaminess, no need for  cream

Method:
Roughly cut the spinach, ginger, tomatoes, green chillies, cashews, very few leaves of fenugreek leaves and keep them with very little water and microwave them for about 3-4 minutes on high.
Let this mixture cool down. 
In the meantime chop the onions  into small pieces.
Chop the garlic also into small pieces and crush them a little with the knife itself

Cut the paneer too into bite size chunks and keep it aside.

Now in a non stick pan pour or regular pan, add about 2- 4 tsps of any vegetable oil/ olive oil
Once it is hot, put the onions  in it to fry, don't brown the onions, just fry  it for a few seconds, add the garlic to it. At this point you can add the turmeric powder too, and fry it for a second. 
The at this stage you can also add 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste and also the fenugreek powder if you don't have fresh fenugreek or even the dried ones( it is just to enhance the taste)

So while all this is being fried in very low heat, you can put the spinach mixture into a mixer/ grinder jar, and grind everything into a fine paste.
Now take this paste and add it to the onions and garlic etc. Give it a good stir, and let every thing boil for a few seconds. 

                                                          See how it is bubbling

Add salt to taste, and add your garam masala  and your milk too (just about4/5 tblsps). 
Because we have already added cashews to give it the creamy, milky consistency.
Now finally add the paneer pieces and let everything get mixed together, and just wait for one more boil and then switch off the gas, and transfer it into a serving bowl.

Your yummy Palak Paneer/ Spinach with Cottage Cheese is ready to be served either with Chapatties, plain Rice or Pulav. You can serve it with some quick salad made with sliced onions, cucumber, tomatoes and some lemon wedges and hot green chillies . And if you like it hotter have it with dash of pickle.

Enjoy!!

Always remember there are no hard and fast rules in cooking, let your imagination and creativity be your guide.  
Be a cook out of the box!