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Palak Paneer

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Servings:  4

Ingredients:

	• Spinach, frozen	1, 16 oz. bag
	• Tomato, diced	1/2, 14 oz. can or 2 medium tomatoes
	• Paneer	1/2, 14 oz. block (200 gms)
	• Milk	3/4 cup
	• WW Pastry Flour	1 Tbsp
	• Ginger, grated	1 tsp
	• Oil, canola	2 Tbsp
	• Cumin seeds	1/2 tsp
	• Asafetida (Hing)	pinch
	• Turmeric	1/2 tsp
	• Coriander	2 tsp
	• Red chili powder	1/4 tsp
	• Salt	1 tsp
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Directions:

Before starting to cook, have all the ingredients set up and ready to go.

1. Make the spinach puree. Empty the bag of spinach into a small casserole dish, add 1/4 cup of water, then microwave for 3-4 minutes until thawed and warmed. Put into a blender and puree. Set aside in a small bowl. A hand held puree device works great and leaves less mess.
2. Make the tomato puree. In the blender, blend the tomatoes on Lo until smooth.
3. Dice the paneer. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes.
4. Mix the flour into the milk. Stir until it is fully dissolved and there are no lumps.
5. Zest about 1 inch of ginger root to get about 1 tsp of ginger paste.

Now you can start the cooking!

1. In a non-stick pan or wok, add about 3 Tbsp of oil. Sauté the paneer at a medium heat (5) until lightly browned. Remove and set aside in a bowl of water. If you don't put it in a bowl with water, it will dry out and get tough. Later, drain and pat dry with paper towel. This sauté step is optional. I usually do not fry the paneer myself. It stays soft and fresh and is perhaps healthier without this browning step.
2. In a large stainless steel fry pan, heat 2 Tbsp of oil to a medium heat (5), add in the cumin seed and let it crack. Add a pinch of hing. Cook for a few seconds. Carefully add in the tomato puree. Add in the spices. Reduce the heat to medium low heat (3) and cook for about 5 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent sticking or burning.
3. Add in the spinach and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook for another 10 minutes.
4. Stir in the milk with flour. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently otherwise the milk and flour will start to scorch on the bottom.
5. Stir in the paneer. Let it cook for a few minutes until everything mixes together.
6. Taste and adjust the salt as needed. It may need another 1/4 tsp.

Notes:
Serve with with brown basmati rice or chapatti/roti/nan and a dal or rajma. Garlic and onions are omitted to make the dish a little more sattvic. Some cooks will add 1 tsp of garam masala at the end. Personally, I find the above mix spicy enough. You can use the full can of diced tomatoes if you like a stronger tomato base. Milk and flour were used instead of cream to make this healthier.

Palak paneer is often also called saag paneer. Technically speaking, palak is spinach but saag is a more generic name for cooked greens and can include mustard greens, kale etc. In common usage, Saag Paneer in restaurants has come to mean the same thing as Palak Paneer.