Palak Paneer Or Frangrant Spinach Curry With Paneer

• Fresh Ingredients
• 3 pounds dark leafy greens (1.4kg - I used half spinach and half kale)
• 8 ounces paneer (225g - substitute halloumi cheese if paneer is unavailable, or leave it out to make the dish vegan)
• 1 white onion, finely chopped either by hand or in a food processor
• 1 tomato, skinned, deseeded and chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, finely minced (about 15g/0.5oz)
• 2-4 tablespoons fresh cream, optional
• Store-cupboard ingredients
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, or other oil such as sunflower/groundnut/canola
• 2 tablespoons oil for frying the paneer (any oil you like)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (about 4cm / 1.5 inches)
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 green cardamom pods, crushed with the back of a knife to release seeds
• 1 black cardamom pod, left whole
• 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds (or 1 teaspoon ground cumin)
• 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds (or 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds)
• 1/2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds (or 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek seeds)
• 2 teaspoons chilli powder - or as much or little as you like
• 1/4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
• 1/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons sea salt or kosher - 1 teaspoon for the onions & another teaspoon to season the dish, or to your taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar or maple syrup

1. Bring a large pot of water to a simmer over high heat. Plunge the spinach & kale into the water and cook for 1 minute only. Remove immediately to a colander set over a bowl to drain while you prepare the rest of the dish.
2. (Optional step, skip if you're using ground spices instead of whole)rnHeat a large saucepan over medium heat (with no oil) and toast the fenugreek, cumin and coriander seeds, turning regularly with a fork, until they become fragrant, about 3 minutes. You will start to smell their aroma when they are ready. Remove from the pan and grind them in a mortar and pestle. (or a spice grinder if you own one)
3. In the same pan you used to toast the spices, heat the 2 tablespoons coconut oil over medium heat while you finely chop the onion. Add the cinnamon, ground coriander, fenugreek and cumin, cloves, and both cardamoms to the pan and fry for 2 minutes so they release their fragrant flavours. Add the onions and a teaspoon of salt and saute until they become sweet, translucent and caramalised. About 15-25 minutes. You want them well cooked so they almost dissolve into the sauce.
4. While the onions are cooking with the spices, skin and deseed a tomato by scoring a cross through the skin of the tomato, plunging it into almost boiling water for a minute, peeling off the skin, removing the seeds and chopping it.
5. To the pan with the onions, add the ginger, garlic, tomato, and chilli powder and cook over medium heat until they tomato and onions have broken down into a sweet mush - about 5 minutes. Taste the tomato/onion/spice mix and if there is any bitterness add a teaspoon of maple syrup or sugar. rnMeanwhile, chop the spinach and kale finely by hand using a large knife and your best rocking-chopping action. Reserve some of the water that has drained from the greens, you might need it later.
6. Add the spinach and kale to the pan and cook for about 3-6 minutes. At this point, fish out the whole spices with a fork - the cloves, cinnamon stick, and cardamom pods. rnBlend the spinach either using a hand blender or a freestanding blender until almost smooth. If you've used a freestanding blender, add the mixture back to the pan. Now you should gauge how much water you need to add. Young spinach contains more water than older leaves so if the sauce looks a little dry, add some of the water you collected from draining the spinach - I add about 1/4 cup, depending on the type of greens I use. rnAdd the cream and nutmeg and mix well to incorporate it into the spinach mixture. At this point, check for seasoning and add more salt, pepper and chilli powder to your taste.
7. Finally, add 2 tablespoons oil to a separate pan over medium heat and fry the paneer for 1-2 minutes per side until golden, remove to a plate with kitchen paper to drain the excess oil, then add them to the dish.
8. A final optional step: deep-fry finely sliced red onions in hot (180u0b0C/356u0b0F) oil in a deep-fat fryer or deep saucepan until crisp and brown. Drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil and top the dish with these deliciously crispy morsels.

ingredients, paneer, white onion, tomato, garlic, fresh ginger, fresh cream, coconut oil, oil, cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom pods, black cardamom, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, chilli powder, freshly grated nutmeg, ground black pepper, salt, sugar

Taken from food52.com/recipes/26353-palak-paneer-or-frangrant-spinach-curry-with-paneer (may not work)