Saag Paneer

Ingredients

• 400 g paneer, cubed
• 600 g spinach
• 40 g ghee
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 25 g ginger, grated
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 80 ml double cream
• a squeeze of lemon

Method

1. Fry the paneer first

   Fry the paneer cubes in half the ghee until golden on several sides, then lift them out and drop them into warm salted water. Frying gives flavour and the soak keeps them soft — unsoaked fried paneer turns rubbery in the sauce.

   8 min

2. Wilt and chop the spinach

   Wilt the spinach in a dry pan, squeeze out the water, then chop it coarsely. Blended smooth it goes claggy and loses its colour; chopped, it keeps some texture.

3. Build the masala

   In the remaining ghee, fry the cumin seeds until they pop, then the onion until golden, then the garlic, ginger and chillies for two minutes.

   10 min

4. Bring together

   Stir in the garam masala, then the chopped spinach, and cook for five minutes so the greens take on the spices rather than sitting on top of them.

   5 min

5. Finish

   Drain the paneer, fold it in with the cream, warm through and finish with lemon and salt. The acid lifts spinach, which otherwise tastes flat and slightly metallic.