Dhaba Style Palak Paneer
This one’s a crowd pleaser, people! If you ever want to boast about cooking Indian dishes, this is the recipe for you. Cubes of cottage cheese soaked in a vibrant, spinach gravy, smoked to perfection, just like the way it is done in dhabas back home.
When I was in 6th or 7th grade, my mom, sis, and I visited my aunt in Lucknow for a whole month. One night, we were all sitting in the living room talking about trips that are worth taking and by the time we retired for the night, we had a plan to drive to Nepal the next day. It is one of the craziest things I’ve ever done. In a car with no air conditioning, in peak Indian Summer, where the temperatures are an average of 42C/107F, seven of us, including a driver, drove six hundred kilometers to cross the border into one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever seen. For me, half the thrill was because it was the first time I was going to a foreign country, the other half was that we were driving to there without passports!
On the way, we stopped at Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Rama. According to Hindu mythology, Rama was the beloved prince of Ayodhya, until he was exiled by his father under the whisperings of one of his wives. During his exile, he meets his wife (wins his wife is more accurate, actually) and somewhere in the middle of ‘happily ever after’, she gets kidnapped by the ten-headed demon to Sri Lanka. Rama, with the help of his brother and friends he makes on the way, go to Lanka to rescue his wife. His victorious return back to Ayodhya is celebrated as Diwali, the festival of lights.
Enroute from Ayodhya to the border city of Gorakhpur, we stopped at a small dhaba for dinner. It was barely six wooden benches under a thatched room and was more frequented by truck drivers, but the food I had there is by far the best North Indian food I’ve ever had in my life. I remember my plate very clearly; a piece of naan, some palak paneer, dal makhni, and thick curd served in a matka (earthen cup). It was hot, spicy, and so goddamn flavourful! The dishes were cooked over coal which added a whole another dimension. Man, I still get shivers down my spine when I think about that dinner.
This recipe is one of my best attempts at recreating a dish from my past and I know I say this often, but this really is a damn easy one. The base of the gravy is palak or spinach. This is blanched and blended into a pulp and added to a pan with onions cooking in masalas and a ginger-garlic paste. Remember, when you are blanching spinach, it will lose colour quickly. Add a pinch of sugar to the boiling water and blanch only for 3-4 minutes. Drain quickly and let it cool in an ice bath. Blend into a paste, once cooled.
Now, the paneer is usually fried lightly to get a crispy edge, but you can skip this step if you like your paneer soft. I recommend using the same pot for preparing paneer and cooking the dish. You don’t want to lose any flavour while transferring pots.
The final step in this recipe is smoking the dish. This is a simple process where you heat up a piece of coal, until it is red hot. Place this in a small cup and lower it into the gravy. Pour a teaspoon of oil on the hot coal, it should start smoking immediately. Close the lid and trap the smoke. I highly recommend this step! Actually, make sure to taste the dish right before and after this step and notice the difference. It is a whole new world.
Smoke the dish for ten minutes and serve hot with chapatis, naan, jeera rice, pulao, or even just plain white rice.
AuthorPriyanka SivaramakrishnanDifficultyBeginnerCubes of cottage cheese soaked in a vibrant, spinach gravy, smoked to perfection, just like the way it is done in dhabas back home.
Bring a big saucepan of water to boil and add a pinch of sugar. This is to make sure that the spinach does not lose any colour. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes.
Drain the spinach and let it cool in an ice bath. Once cooled, blitz it into a smooth puree. Set aside.
In the pan in which you'll be cooking the curry, heat some oil on high heat and cook the paneer for five minutes. Flip the pieces often to make sure all sides get browned evenly.
Remove the pieces from heat when you feel they have browned sufficiently and allow them to drain on a paper napkin.
In the same pan as the one you roasted your paneer pieces, add a bit more oil and crackle the cumin seeds. Add the bay leaves and saute for a minute.
Add the onions and let them sweat for 3-4 minutes, or until they become soft and translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and chilies and cook them until the raw aroma goes away.
Sprinkle into the pan, the turmeric, crushed pepper, and dry fenugreek leaves. Mix well before adding the spinach puree.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the cream and garam masala and stir well until combined.
Take it off heat and add the paneer pieces.
Heat up a small piece of coal until it all red and glowing. Place this in a small cup and place the cup inside the saucepan.
Add a drop of oil on the red, hot coal and close the lid to the saucepan immediately, trapping the smoke.
Keep the lid closed until all the smoke has slowly cleared away.
Instead of the paneer, you could use tofu.
Instead of the cream, you can soak 10-15 cashews in water and blitz them into a smooth paste. Add this to the curry to get a similar creaminess.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a big saucepan of water to boil and add a pinch of sugar. This is to make sure that the spinach does not lose any colour. Add the spinach and cook for 3 minutes.
Drain the spinach and let it cool in an ice bath. Once cooled, blitz it into a smooth puree. Set aside.
In the pan in which you'll be cooking the curry, heat some oil on high heat and cook the paneer for five minutes. Flip the pieces often to make sure all sides get browned evenly.
Remove the pieces from heat when you feel they have browned sufficiently and allow them to drain on a paper napkin.
In the same pan as the one you roasted your paneer pieces, add a bit more oil and crackle the cumin seeds. Add the bay leaves and saute for a minute.
Add the onions and let them sweat for 3-4 minutes, or until they become soft and translucent. Add the ginger-garlic paste and chilies and cook them until the raw aroma goes away.
Sprinkle into the pan, the turmeric, crushed pepper, and dry fenugreek leaves. Mix well before adding the spinach puree.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the cream and garam masala and stir well until combined.
Take it off heat and add the paneer pieces.
Heat up a small piece of coal until it all red and glowing. Place this in a small cup and place the cup inside the saucepan.
Add a drop of oil on the red, hot coal and close the lid to the saucepan immediately, trapping the smoke.
Keep the lid closed until all the smoke has slowly cleared away.
Instead of the paneer, you could use tofu.
Instead of the cream, you can soak 10-15 cashews in water and blitz them into a smooth paste. Add this to the curry to get a similar creaminess.
Super palak paneer recipe