Saag Paneer
- 2 pounds fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
- 1/4 cup ghee, recipe follows
- 1/2 pound cubed paneer cheese
- 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon curry powder, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- Salt
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in the spinach and blanch for 1 minute until very tender.
- Dump the spinach into a colander and press firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, set aside.
- Heat the ghee in a deep skillet over medium-high flame.
- Add the cubed paneer and fry for a couple of minutes until light brown on all sides, gently turning to avoid breaking up the cubes.
- Remove the cheese from the skillet and set aside.
- Return the skillet to the heat and saute the onions, garlic, and ginger; cook and stir for about 5 minutes until soft.
- Sprinkle the mixture with the curry powder; continue to stir to marry the flavors, about 1 minute.
- Fold in the chopped spinach and give everything a good toss.
- Shut off the heat and stir the buttermilk and yogurt into the spinach to incorporate.
- The mixture should be creamy and somewhat thick.
- Gently fold in the fried paneer cubes, season with salt, to taste, and serve with steamed basmati rice and/or flat bread.
- 1 pound unsalted butter
- Put the butter in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, swirl the pot around to ensure that it melts slowly and does not sizzle or brown.
- Increase the heat and bring the butter to a boil.
- When the surface is covered with foam, stir gently and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting.
- Gently simmer, uncovered, and undisturbed for 45 minutes, until the milk solids in the bottom of the pan have turned golden brown and the butter on top is transparent.
- Strain the ghee through a sieve lined with several layers of cheesecloth.
- The ghee should be perfectly clear and smell nutty; pour into a glass jar and seal tightly.
- Yield: 1 1/2 cups
- 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1 tablespoon cardamom seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 2 dried red chiles, broken in pieces, seeds discarded
- 1 tablespoon turmeric
- Toast the whole spices (coriander, cumin, fennel, cloves, mustard, cardamom and peppercorns) and the chiles in a small dry skillet over medium-low heat, shaking the pan often to prevent them from burning.
- Toast for a couple of minutes until the spices smell fragrant.
- In a clean coffee grinder, grind the toasted spices together to a fine powder.
- Add the turmeric and give it another quick buzz to combine.
- Use the spice blend immediately, or store in a sealed jar for as long as 1 month.
- Yield: about 1/2 cup
baby spinach, ghee, paneer cheese, yellow onions, garlic, freshly grated ginger, curry powder, buttermilk, plain yogurt, salt
Taken from www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/saag-paneer-recipe.html (may not work)